
Book .T7 



r" 



ANTHROPOLOGY. 



DE. PAUL TOPINAED, 

PREPARATOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE ECOLE DES KAUTES ETUDES, 
CURATOR OF THE MUSEUM OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PARIS, 

ETC. 



BY 

PROFESSOR PAUL BROCA. 




TRANSLATED BY ROBERT T. H. BARTLEY, M.D. 







LOl^DON: CHAPMAlSr AKD HALL, 193, PICCADILLY 
PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT AND CO. 

1878. 






CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, 
CKYSTAL PALACi; PRESS. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



.NTHROPOLOGY^ of all branclies of natural science, was tlie 

' ^;st to be developed ; nevertheless it is one wliicli now lays 

laim to bold the first place in the attention of the scientific 

/orld. For fifteen years this science, whose title even was 

.ot settled,, had but few adherents. Since 1749, the date at 

7hich it was inaugurated by BufPon, there have been, in 

every generation, a certain number of learned men who 

have directed their attention to it, and among these have 

figured manytdistinguished anatomists and naturalists. But 

these men, devoted to studies whose utility was not as yet 

appreciated, formed, as it were, a staff without an army, 

and if they had a few select readers we may safely say they 

had not the public at large. 

A new era manifested itself in 1859, in consequence of 
the foundation of the Societe d^Anthropologie de Paris. The 
Ethnological Societies of Paris, and of London and New 
Yorkj which had preceded it, had not been able to extend 
their influence beyond a very limited area; some valuable 
works had been published, but the majority of the members 



vi PREFACE. 

remained indifferent. When, in 1848, tlie Societe Bthno- 
logique de Paris ceased to liold its meetings, no notice was 
taken of it; and when, eleven years later, some of its 
members resolved to found a society for the special study 
of Man, and of the races of mankind, it was with difficulty, 
after six months of parleying, that nineteen of the pro- 
moters could be brought together, of whom many were 
only members in name. 

This new society, founded with so much difficulty, 
obtained, however, rapid and unexpected success. Enlarg- 
ing all at once the programme of ethnology, by grouping 
around the study of the human races the medical sciences, 
comparative anatomy, and zoology, prehistoric archasology, 
palaeontology, linguistics, and history, and designating under 
the title Anthropology the science whose domain was thus 
largely extended, the new society opened its portals to all 
those who cultivated these numerous branches of human 
knowledge. 

Ethnology had remained, up to this period, a speciality 
prosecuted but by few; anthropology, on the contrary, 
addressed itself to learned men of every class. It attracted to 
it physicians, naturalists, arch^ologists, linguistics, happy to 
be able, each in his sphere, to lend his aid ; and soon these 
valuable auxiliaries manifested their desire to become pro- 
ficient by an assiduous devotion to its study. To the rapid 
accession of learned men to its ranks, and of others who 
became interested in it, are we to attribute the rapid diffusion 
of anthropological knowledge. 

This movement, which had its origin in France, rapidly 
extended to other countries. On all sides anthropological 
societies sprang up, which were founded on the same basis 



PREFACE. vii 

and worked on tlie same general plan. Anthropological 
conferences were organised, and in tlie greater number of 
general meetings for the advancement of science, anthro- 
pology has now its section the same as other sciences. 
These conferences have been remarkable from the number 
of members who have taken an active part in them, and from 
the still larger number of their adherents. The latter are 
no longer to be computed by hundreds but by thousands. 
For example, the only society of anthropology in Paris has 
now on its roll upwards of four hundred native members, 
while the members comprising the two English societies is 
nearly double that number. There is now a large and 
distinguished body of persons who fully estimate the 
importance of the science, who approve its objects, and who 
naturally interest themselves in them. This is the happy 
outgrowth of the extension of the general scheme of 
anthropology. Other results, still more fortunate, have 
been brought about. Works have become multiplied in 
proportion to the number of workers. Many questions of 
altogether a novel character have arisen ; many others have 
changed their aspects ; all have been elucidated by constant 
and patient research. Innumerable facts have been observed, 
discussed, verified ; and in the brief period of sixteen 
years greater progress and more important discoveries have 
been made in anthropology than at any period since its 
foundation. 

But the rapidity with which the development of anthro- 
pology is proceeding is a source of considerable difiiculty to 
those who are desirous of studying this science. No one 
can pretend to become conversant with all the subjects of 
general knowledge which it lays under contribution; to 



viii PEEFACE. 

master them with the depth and precision which imply a 
thorough acquaintance with them, he must abandon the 
idea of becoming a ferfect anthropologist. Division of 
labour is more necessary here than anywhere else. In this 
vast domain each one pitches his tent in the spot where his 
special tastes, his peculiar bias, and his particular know- 
ledge invite Mm. But in order that these researches, so 
multiform, may not run the risk of becoming discursive, 
and may be directed to one and the same end, it is necessary 
that all labourers in the work should early become ac- 
quainted with the general principles of anthropology, with 
its tenets, and with the whole of the facts which it has 
established. This want has been sensibly felt for some 
years. From all sides a demand has sprung up for an 
elementary treatise on anthropology — a systematic resume 
where questions might be studied which are the subject of 
discussion in our societies or treated of in original papers ; 
a work, in short, which should be at the same time a guide 
for students and a manual of reference for others. Such a 
work has not appeared up to the present time. The 
remarkable ^^ Le9ons sur THomme,^^ by Carl Vogt, embraced 
only the subject in a general way : they were published, 
moreover, twelve years since, and do not give the latest 
information on the science. The excellent little treatise of 
Omalius d'Halloy, " Sur les Eaces Humaines,''' is purely 
ethnological ; it embraces only one special part of anthro- 
pology, and does not supply the want to which we refer. 

An important gap had to be filled up. The founders of 
the Bibliotheque des Sciences Contemporaines have felt it 
incumbent upon them to step in, and have confided to 
Dr. Topinard the difiicult task of elucidating, in a single 



PEEFACE. ix 

volume, a science of vast dimensions in process of rapid de- 
velopment, and one wliicli hitherto has not received sufficient 
attention. More than one had shrunk from attempting it. 
An individual devoting himself to original research, and 
engaged in duties to which he is anxious to give his 
undivided attention, is generally little disposed to employ 
his time in writing a work of a popular character. But 
M. Topinard is one who is thoroughly equal to the task. 
An appeal was made to his ardent love for anthropology, 
which appeal has not been made in vain. He has been 
most unwearied in his efforts, and has brought his work 
to a successful issue. He has rendered signal service to 
anthropology, for which, on behalf of the friends of the 
science, I cordially thank him. 

PAUL BEOCA. 



TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 



Whilst endeavouring faithfully to execute the task of 
clothing in English garb Dr. Topinard's work on Anthro- 
pology^ the translator wishes it to be understood that he 
does not necessarily endorse all the views of its talented 
author. Himself a pupil of the illustrious Prichard, he early 
became acquainted with that great man^s arguments in 
favour of Monogenism, so forcibly advanced in his work 
" Researches into the Physical History of Mankind." Sub- 
sequent thoughtful study has only tended to confirm him in 
the truth of those arguments, and in an entire belief in the 
authenticity of the Mosaic Records, which no sophistry on 
the part of the advocates of Polygenism has been able to 
shake. One or two matters of .detail contained in the 
original have been omitted, with a view to render the work 
more acceptable to the general reader, from whom, as well 
as from the professional reader, indulgence is craved for 
many conscious defects in the translation. 

ROBERT T. H. HARTLEY. 

Novemler 20, 1877. 



CONTEI^TS. 



PAGE 

Preface yii 



INTEODUCTIOK 

Definition of Anthropology — General Outline of the Subject — 
Its Relations to Medicine and Ethnology — Its Applications 
— History — Plan of the Work — Zoological Classification ... 1 



PAET I, 

OF MAN CO:NrSIDERED i:Nr HIS E^^SEMBLE, AND IN 
HIS RELATIONS WITH A:N^IMALS. 

CHAPTER I. 

Physical Characters. 

Skeleton and Skull in General — Zoological Facial Angle — 
Cranial Capacity — Situation and Direction of the Occipital 
Foramen— Occipital and Biorbital Angles 29 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER II. 



PAGE 



Yertebral Column — Sacrum — Pelvis — Thorax — • Sternum — 
Parallel between the Superior and Inferior Extremities 
— The Hand and Foot — Proportions of the Skeleton ... 61 

CHAPTER III. 

Muscles — Organs of Sense — Yiscera — Larynx — Genital Organs 
— ^ISTervous System — Brain : its Structure, Convolutions, 
"Weight — Rudimentary Organs and Reversive Anomalies ... 91 

CHAPTER lY. 

Physiological Characters — Development of the Body — Em- 
bryogeny, Sutures and Epiphyses, Teeth — Determination 
of the Age and Sex of the Skeleton — General and Special 
Functions — Psychical Manifestations, Faculty of Ex- 
pression 128- 

CHAPTER Y. 

Pathological Characters — Diseases — Facts of Teratology — 
Microcephalus — Hydrocephalus — Premature Synostoses 
— Artificial Deformations of the Skull — Conclusion as to 
Man's Place in the Class of Mammalia 158 



PART II. 

OF THE RACES OF MANKmD. 

CHAPTER I. 

Species — Yariety — Race — Classification of Races — Physical 
Characters — Anatomical Description — Craniology — De- 
scriptive Characters — Processes of Blumenbach, of Owen, 
of Prichard — Craniometrical Characters— Principles and 
Methods of employing Craniometry 193 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER II. 



PAGE 



Measurement of the Cranial Cavity — Straight and Carved 
Measurements — Cephalic, Yertical, Frontal, IS'asal, Orbital 
Indices — Facial Triangle 22& 

CHAPTER III. 

Projections — Horizontal Alveolo-condylean Plane — Auricular 
Radii — Prognathism — Craniometrical Angles of Jacquart, 
De Quatrefages, Broca, "Welcker 263 

CHAPTER IV. 

Skeleton : its Descriptive and Osteometrical Characters — Its 

Proportions — The Yiscera — The Brain : its Weight ... 297 

CHAPTER V. 

Physical Characters in the living Subject — Anthropometrical 
Characters — Proportions in Art — Stature — Measurement of 
the Head and Body 314 

CHAPTER YI. 

Descriptive Characters — Colour of the Skin, Eyes, and Hair — 
Pilous System — Physiognomy — Form of the Face, ISTose, 
Mouth, and Ears — External Genital Organs — Tablier and 
Steatopyga 340' 

CHAPTER YII. 

Physiological Characters — Age — Menstruation — Crossing — 

Inheritance — Consanguineous Union 363 



CHAPTER YIII. 

Influence of Milieux — Acclimation — Weight of the Body — 
Muscular Strength — Pulse — Respiration — Intellectual 
Functions — Pathological Characters — Causes of the Ex- 
tinction of Races,.. ... ... ^.., ... 385 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 



PAGE 



Ethnic, Linguistic, Historical, Archaeological Characters : 
their Value — Prehistoric Eaces — Our Ancestors of the 
Rough and Polished Stone Period 417 

CHAPTER X. 

Anthropological Types — Blonde and Brown European Types — 
Hindoo, Tschinghanian, Iranian, Celtic, Berber, Semitic, 
Arabian Types 442 

CHAPTER XL 

Finnish and Lapp Types — Mongolian, Esquimau, Samoyed, 
and Malay Types — Polynesian Type — American and Pata- 
gonian Types — Red African Type 465 

CHAPTER XII. 

I^egro, Kaffir, Hottentot Types— Papuan, I!Tegrito, Tasmanian 
Types — Australian Type — Conclusion of the Subject of 
Human Races 487 



PART III. 

ON THE ORIGIN OF MAK 

CHAPTER L 

Monogenism of M. de Quatrefages — Polygenism of Agassiz — 
Transformism of Lamarck — Selection of Mr. Darwin 
— Their Application to Man, his Genealogy, his Place in 
Nature 515 



ANTHEOPOLOGY. 



INTEODUCTIOK 

DEFINITION OP ANTHROPOLOGY GENERAL OUTLINE OP THE SUBJECT 

ITS RELATIONS TO MEDICINE AND ETHNOLOGY ITS APPLICATIONS 

HISTORY PLAN OF THE WORK ZOOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION. 

The Avord Anthropologij is of ancient date, and has ahvays signified 
tbe study of Man ; originally, of Man moral, and, later on, of Man 
physical. At the present time it comprehends both. We may 
almost say that Aristotle was the originator of it. He termed 
those AnthroxDologists who carried on dissertations upon Man. The 
word is found for the first time in the title of a work of Magnus 
Hundt, in 1501. It is frequently to be met with subsequently as 
synonymous with " a description of the soul," or of "a description 
of the body and soul, and of the laws which govern their union." 
In 1772, Diderot and D'Alembert defined it as "a treatise on 
Man." In 1778, Kant wrote a work on psychology, entitled "An 
Essay on Anthropology." Blumenbach takes it in the acceptation 
we give it at the present day. In 1838, Serres assumed, at the 
Museum, the title of Professor of Anthropology, or of the I^^atural 
History of Man ; and M. Edwards, in 1839, defined it as the 
knowledge of Man in his physical and moral relations. Here and 
there, however, we find it more or less misinterpreted. Physicians 
have published, under this title, encyclopaedias embracing at the 
same time anatomy, physiology, pathology, and hygiene. A 

B 



2 INTRODUCTION. 

chapter in Professor Karl Schmidt's " Lettres Anthropologiques,"' 
written in 1852, is entitled " The Anthropology of the New Testa- 
ment, or Jesus Christ." Three years ago an author in the " Revue 
des deux Mondes " employed it as a synonym for the " Reproduction 
of the human figure on Grecian vases." But such differences of 
signification are no longer allowable. The Avord has a meaning, 
stamped upon it by the whole of Europe, which cannot be ignored ;.. 
it designates a science as well recognised and as definite as chemistry,, 
astronomy, or social economy. 



Definition. 

Anthropology is the branch of natural history which treats of 
Man and of the races of Man. It may be summed up in the 
following definitions : 

'' Anthropology is a science which has for its object the study 
of the human race, considered as a whole, in its separate individu- 
ality, and in its relations with the rest of nature." — Br oca. 

"Anthropology is a science pure and concrete, having, for its^ 
aim the thorough knowledge of the human group, considered :: 
(1) In each of the four typical divisions — as to variety, race, species 
— compared with each other, and in relation to their respective ex- 
ternal conditions. (2) In its ensemlle, and in its relations with the 
rest of the animal world." — Bertillon. 

" Anthropology is the natural history of Man, considered mono- • 
graphically, as a zoologist studying an animal would understand 
it." — De Quatrefages. 

Such is an outline of the subject for our consideration.. It com- 
prehends all the points of view from which the enlightened 
naturalist would look, who desired to give a complete history of any 
animal, and of its settled varieties. He examines (1) Its external 
form, and its internal organs after death. (2) The functions of 
these organs during life. He notes how the heart beats, the lungs 
respire, the brain thinks. He ascertains whether the animal is a 
biped or a quadruped ; how its functions of reproduction are pei- 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

formed, what are the influences by which it is governed, what the 
character of its food, what its habits, its instincts, its passions. 

(3) Its particular mode of associating with those of its own species, 
such as the wandering life of the dingo of Australia, and the bison 
of America, or the sedentary life of the beaver and the ant. 

(4) Its method of conveying its meaning to a distance by more or 
less articulate sounds, as by the rapid friction of the wing-covers, 
or by the simple vibrations of the larynx. (5) Its migrations, 
whether voluntary or forced, periodical or spontaneous, owing to 
the pursuit of an enemy, or in consequence of a flood, or from 
change of climate. (6) Its numerous records. Archseology indeed 
gives us an insight into the habits of animals in bygone times, 
their migrations, the period at which they became domesticated by 
Man, and those species which have become extinct. 

The natm-alist, in this way, is enabled to give some sort of 
description of each group, and of each of its divisions, and to dis- 
tinguish them from those to which they are the most closely allied. 
Then, by synthesis, he establishes their respective position in the 
classification of animated beings, and the family, genus, species, or 
variety to which they belong. Having made himself acquainted 
with the relations which his object of study bears to the rest of the 
animal kingdom, he proceeds to enter upon the higher path of 
philosophical inquiry. 

Programme. 

The course which the anthropologist takes is equally clearly de- 
fined. His aims are the same, his method of proceeding is identical. 
His subject is a twofold one : (1) Man considered in his ensemUe, 
so far as the group to which he belongs differs from, or is analogous 
to, contiguous groups in the class of mammalia with which he is in 
nearest relation. (2) The varieties of mankind, commonly called 
races, a word which has but little present significance as compared 
with that which will be accorded to it at a later period. All 
the traits and characters with which the naturalist is occupied 
equally engage his attention, and even with greater 'intensity. 

B 2 



4 INTRODUCTIO:fir. 

Certain characters of Ms embryo state, of but trifling interest 
in the animal, possess in him a very high degree of importance. 
These characters may be classified under four principal heads, 
viz. (1) Physical, whether studied on the dead body or on the 
living. (2) Physiological, which have a particular name assigned 
to them, according as they have reference to the brain, or to the 
intellectual faculties and phenomena. (3) Characters resulting 
from the social condition. (4) Those having reference to historj^, 
archaeology, language, &c. The mode of pursuing the investigation 
is precisely the same for Man as for animals. If our inquiries 
respecting the latter require the most rigid scrutiny, what shall we 
say when the subject of them is ourselves 1 Intuitive reasoning, 
a jJTiori reasoning, and other methods of a similar nature, should 
be altogether excluded. Whether we are determining Man's 
position on our planet, and the part which he plays at the head of 
organised beings ; whether he is the sole representative of a king- 
dom — the human kingdom — or is only the first of the order of 
Primates, the same processes of scientific investigation must be put 
in operation. M. de Quatrefages, one of the strongest defenders of 
human prerogatives, expressly tells us this : Man is an animal ; 
he comes into existence, reproduces his own species, and dies. 
Memento te hominem esse! was an exclamation to the conqueror 
of old. 

Method of Investigation. 

Man in his entirety — that is to say, in his physical and moral 
relations, to quote W. Edwards — is the subject of anthropology. 
]N"o zoologist would dream of dividing the study of an animal into 
two portions, and of entrusting them to learned men of different 
orders, some limiting themselves to the anatomical and physio- 
logical characters of certain organs, others directing their attention 
only to the brain and nervous system. Neither should the study 
of Man, under the pretext that one portion possesses supreme 
importance over another, be divided between men of science 
and philosophers. Each would look at Man or animal from his 



INTEODtJCTION. 5 

own particular point of view ; but tlie anthropologist and tlie 
naturalist should take a comprehensive view of the whole. To 
understand the working of a machine, one must study its system of 
wheels, and make ourselves acquainted with the mechanism and 
structure of similar machines. The organisation, whether animal 
or human, simple or complex, is governed by the same general laws, 
is constituted of the same elements, and performs similar functions. 
Men's mode of life, of thought, and of association, is as important 
to know as their mode of walking or breathing. The cerebral mani- 
festations, in their infinite variety, are as much characteristic of 
races as the volume and quality of the brain distinguish man from 
the brute : they are two orders of facts which are inseparable. If 
the structure of the organ indicates its function, so the function 
and its various manifestations indicate the organ. The body and 
the mind are as indissoluble as matter and its activity, or, as it 
used to be called, its properties. 

The field of anthropology, then, is immeasurably vast, and might 
be defined as " the science of Man and of mankind," according 
to James Hunt ; or " the biology of the human species," according 
to M. Broca. I^umerous and varied are the subjects of general 
knowledge which it lays under contribution ! 

Its more immediate domain is the comparative anatomy and 
morphology of Man and animals ; then the history of animals, and 
of mammalia in particular, and especially of the anthropoid apes ; 
then the different branches of medical science, notably physiology, 
of which psychology in health and disease forms part ; then that 
which has reference to nations, and' consequently to travel, as 
ethnography, geography, history, language, and, lastly, prehistoric 
archasology. This is not aU — law, the arts, literature, equally con- 
tribute their share. Leon Guillard, barrister and anthropologist, 
who died at Buzenval, demonstrated, eight months previous to his 
death, its intimate connection with the science of comparative law, 
a subject taken up by M. AcoUas in 1874."^ 

* " L'Anth.ropologie et TEtude dn Droit compare," by L. Guillard, in 
" Ball. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 2iid series, vol. v. ; " L'Anthropologie et le 
Droit," by E. AcoUas, in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 2nd series, vol. ix. 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

Tlie year previously, M. Cesar Daly had slioAvn, before tlie 
Societe d'Anthropologie, that architecture, in its elementary forms, 
varies according to the distinctive character of each race. Fetis, in 
1867, suggested a classification of races, based upon their musical 
systems."^ Dances, songs, and national poems, like the heathen 
mythologies, serve to trace out their origin and affinities. The 
first attempts at anthropometry, for the purpose of determining the 
proportions of the human body, and craniometry, for analysing 
the physiognomy, are due to artists. 

We see, then, that anthropology appeals to all willing workers, 
whatever the direction of their studies or the nature of their pro- 
fessional occupations may be. All, with scarcely any preparatory 
study, may contribute to its progress j it is sufiicient to indicate to 
them its aim — the knowledge of Man. The mere word "anthro- 
pology " frightens many people, who imagine that it has to do with 
medicine. 

Medicine. 

The study of Man, relegated at first to the dissertations of 
philosophers, on assuming a real basis naturally became shared both 
by physicians and naturalists ; the former, however, had but little 
leisure to deal with the special questions which it involved, while 
the latter were reluctant to regard it in the same light as they did 
that of the brute creation, which was the special subject of their 
investigation. It was necessary that anthropology should be un- 
constrained. ■ Both at the Museum and in the Faculty of Medicine 
of Paris, it has its representatives and its classes, but it holds a 
thoroughly independent position there. While medicine has 
especial reference to the individual — to the human machine — 
anthropology studies the human group and its varieties. The 
former has but one aspiration, one aim — the prevention and cure of 
disease ; the latter studies Man, his origin, and his relations with 
other animated beings, without troubling himself about the manner 

* "La Classification des Eaces," by Fetis Sen., in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 
2nd series, vol. ii., 1867. 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

in which society in general may treat the question. Their method 
of looking at things is altogether different. Is it a question of 
anatomy] Medicine looks at the organ in relation to adjoining 
23arts, as it bears upon surgical operations, or at its structure, the 
better to understand whether its performance is regular or dis- 
turbed. Anthropology finds in it only elements of comparison 
with animals or between races. Is it a question of physiology, of 
pathology, of hygiene, or of therapeutics 1 They still diverge. The 
one seeks in the brain the method by which thought is elaborated, 
and how it is transformed into action ; the other sees in it only 
different manifestations, varying according to race. Diseases are 
not alike in all latitudes. When it is a question of climate, it is 
specially in the , province of medicine ; when of race, it is for 
anthropology to step in. So with respect to the action of remedies, 
each regards the question from its own particular point of view. 
Lastly, hygiene has a bearing upon anthropology, owing to the part 
which it plays, or its influence on external circumstances, acclima- 
tion, or crossing. 

An acquaintance with the medical sciences, without being indis- 
pensable to every anthropologist, gives him a marked advantage. 
Eeciprocally, a knoAvledge of anthropology invests the physician 
with a certain pre-eminence. It augments his interest in anatomical 
and physiological studies, and is the climax of academic study. 
We are surprised, therefore, that instruction in it does not form 
part of the regular course in our principal faculties. Looking at it 
in connection with the healing art, it is indispensable that the 
medical men in our navy and mercantile marine, called upon, as 
they are, to practise among races the most diverse, should kno^v 
how to distinguish them, as well as to recognise the varieties of 
local circumstances under which diseases present themselves. 



Etlmograpliy. 

The word "ethnography" was employed at the commencement of 
the present century as synonymous with a description of nations. 



8 INTEODUCTION. 

It was made use of in 1826 in the "Atlas Geograpliique " of 
M. Balbi, and was ratified under the influence of what was sub^ 
sequently termed linguistics. Wiseman, in 1836, defined it as 
"the classification of races by the comparative study of languages ;" 
M. Broca, as simply the description of each nation in particular. 
The word "ethnology" had its origin in the title of the Society of 
Ethnology of Paris, in 1839. It embraces, as set forth in the 
statutes of that society, " the physical organisation, the intellectual 
and moral character, the language, and hi-storical traditions which 
serve to distinguish races." It is used in the same sense in England 
hj Prichard, Lubbock, Logan, Brace, &c. In 1866, M. Broca ex- 
tended its meaning as follows : " The particular description and 
designation of these races, the study of their resemblances and dis- 
similarities as regards physical constitution, as well as intellectual 
and social condition. The inquiry into their actual afiinities, their 
distribution in the present and in the past, their history, their more 
or less probable, more or less doubtful relationship, and their re- 
spective position in the human series. Such is the purpose of that 
division of anthropology which Ave designate by the name of 
ethnology; the sources whence it gathers its inquiries are numerous, 
it borrows from ethnography, or a description of jieoples. . . . " '^ 

Ethnology. 

M. Littre confines the term " ethnology " to its etymological mean- 
ing. " Ethnology," he says, " treats of the origin and distribution 
of peoples, and ethnography of their description. According to M. 
Erederic Miiller, anthropology has reference to the study of races, 
ethnology to that of peoples. Latham had already described 
ethnology as the speculative, and ethnography as the descriptive 
part of the science of peoples. 

Eor ourselves, we regard anthropology and ethnology as two 
different aspects of the study of Man ; two distinct sciences, each 

* Lecture by James Hunt at the Anthropological Society of London, 
January 3, 1865 ; Article, " Anthropologie," in the " Dictionnaire EncvcL 
des Sciences Medicales," hj M. Paul Broca, vol. v. Paris, 1866. 



INTEODUCTIOK & 

having its own adherents, enjo}dng an independent existence, but 
always having a unity of design. The former occupies itself with 
Man and the races of mankind, which it succeeds in minutely 
unfolding. The latter only concerns itself with such peoples and 
tribes as geography and history hand over to us, and is divided 
into two parts — ethnography, which is the description of each 
people, of its manners, customs, religion, language, physical charac- 
teristics, and origin in history ; and ethnology, properly so called, 
which looks at these in their ensemble, and as appl3dng to all or to 
many peoples. 

It is the province of ethnology, then, to be engaged with con- 
stituent elements, with the origin and descent of peoples, and even 
to make a classification of them based upon their language. It 
makes use of the term " races " somewhat carelessly. But it is not 
within its province to determine the characteristics or to make a 
correct classification of the races of mankind. It does not possess 
the qualifications for such a task, which requires the combination of 
all the active powers of anthropology, and especially anatomical 
appliances and zoological experience, to which it is a stranger. 

The expression "races," as used by the ethnologist, is a permissive 
one. To the anthropologist, it is one of deep meaning. He looks 
upon it as synonymous with the natural divisions of the human 
group, however remote the period at which they were constituted. 
Cynology being the natural history of the dog, the inquiry into 
the primitive races which have produced its innumerable cross 
breeds would belong to cynology ; so the inquiry into the various 
human races constitutes anthropology, and not ethnology. Ethnology 
then, as its etymology signifies, is the general science of nations.* 

Nationalitij. 

The study of anthropology requires a calm and vigorous judg- 
ment, free from prejudice, Avith but one aspiration — that of truth. 
There is no more delicate subject to handle. We have all been 

"'• "Anthropologie, Etlmologie, et Ethnographie," in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 
by Paul Topiuard. 1876. 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

'brought up with, preconceived notions, which, have saturated our 
brain substance, at a period when it was becoming fully developed, 
and was the better fitted to retain impressions.* Now anthropo- 
logical facts at times clash with certain matters of faith, which 
religious teachers have ever considered necessary for the best 
interests of mankind. On the other hand, our pride is ruffled ; it 
is not willing to descend from the pedestal on which it has reposed, 
intends to have nothing in common with the animals, and clamours 
when we tell it that there is no great gulf between them and our- 
selves. "VAHiat we do, what we think, is ever the high, the noble, 
the good, the true. Our physical type, as Europeans, is the nearest 
approach to perfection. Those who have the round head, or who 
imagine that they have it, affirm that it is the most intellectual. 
. With the Chinese, the flat face, the oblique eyes, and the 
hairy upper lip, are the very perfection of beauty. The negro 
looks upon black as the most beautiful of colours. In the in- 
tellectual world, our moral condition, our civilisation alone merit 
the title of beautiful. Our customs alone are dictated by reason, 
those of other nations are barbarous. The political passion misleads 
us in the same way. ISTationality, according to the Germans, is 
determined by language, a doctrine purely ethnographic and 
radically false ; as M. Abel Hovelacque has so forcibly put it, this 
is only " a social cause." Brought into being by a fortuity of cir- 
cumstances, rather than by the geographical disposition of places, 
it is afterwards maintained by a community of interests, of suff'er- 
ing, and of glory. Blood poured out in a common cause cements 
it ; hearts throbbing in unison with it from one end of a territory 
to the other are its characteristics, t 

Aj)plications. 
It is asked if anthropology has any application to real life, and 

* We shall have frequently to revert to this point, more particularly in 
our description of races. 

+ " Langues, Races, Nationalites," by A. Hovelacque, editor of the 
"" Revue de Linguistique." Paris, 1872. 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

what is its pretended aimi' But liad Aristotle, Liimeeus, Buffon 
no object in view when describing the animal kingdom ? ISTewton, 
when pondering over the problem of gravitation, and Cuvier, when 
investigating the characters of fossil species 1 Did Pasteur, when 
refuting the theory of spontaneous generation, contemplate the 
advantages Avhich patient industry would deduce from it 1 'No, 
true science, that which leads to the most brilliant results, is 
essentially disinterested. To know how to enlarge the field of 
human thought, and to satisfy a legitimate curiosity, such are its 
actuating principles. 

Anthropology, more than any other science, is capable of exer- 
cising an influence on our social organisations. Is not its object to 
lay open to our view Man as he really is, to unfold to us the secret 
of his acts, his passions, and his wants in the past, and possibly 
in the future 1 

The first English society having any relation to anthropology 
was founded with a view to help forward the abolition of slavery, 
and did in fact powerfully contribute to this result. The first of 
any note in France had for its object to give currency to an idea 
which M. Edwards had gathered from the writings of Sir Walter 
Scott and of the two Thierrys — namely, that races and their 
temperaments play an important part in the existence of nations. 
History, elucidated by anthropology, thus assumes a new aspect ; 
causes and effects are more readily explained, and the anthropo- 
logical replaces the theological in our conceptions of past ages.* 

Civilised peoples are everywhere taking the place of savage races, 
or substituting for them races less warlike in character. To this end 
governments have to choose between two courses of action, either 
to destroy or to bring them together. The former, spite of certain 
recent examples, is not admissible ; the latter is only realisable by 
understanding the distinctive character of the vanquished nation, its 
capabilities, and the nature of its race. Our method of action 



* W. F. Edwards, " Des Caracteres Physiologiques des Eaces Humaines 
considerees dans leur Rapports avec I'Histoire." Letter to M. Amedee 
Thierry, in 1829, in " Mem. Soc. EtknoL," vol. i. 



12 INTKODUCTION. 

cannot be too deeply penetrated with, this truth, if we would give 
its right position to the native race of Algeria, which is the 
Barhary, and ought not to he considered as the Arah race. Anthro- 
pology teaches us how to recognise them. 

Man inures himself to almost every climate, but only by dint 
of perseverance. One race dies out in a country, while another 
thrives in it. By following certain principles, the difficulties are 
more or less surmounted. The science of acclimation, therefore, 
is one department of anthropology. It has been said that races 
may be compared to countries in which diseases are variously 
developed, and which require different hygienic treatment. It is 
as necessary to be able to distinguish, races as in medicine to 
diagnose the arthritic, the herpetic, or the nervous temperament. 
In the sad expedition to Mexico the knowledge of one of the 
characteristics of the negro race led to a most happy result. Vera 
Cruz, where at first there was considerable mortality among the 
French troops from yellow fever, was afterwards garrisoned by black 
soldiers from Upper Egypt, who possessed an immunity from that 
disease. 

We are not now living in the time of Albert Diirer and of 
Eubens, when artists were satisfied with delineating the forms and 
features of those around them to represent those of foreign nations. 
Our annual exhibitions testify the progress which has been made 
in this direction. In the galleries of the Museum we sometimes 
meet with painters studying the varieties of the human head, and. 
at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts, the professor of anatomy knows that 
he must teach the different forms of the beautiful, as seen in every 
country and under every climate, and, therefore, must be an anthro- 
pologist. 

Whether we accept the modern doctrine or not, it is undeniable 
that Man, by a certain method of high breeding and well-managed 
crossing, is capable of being changed in successive generationsi, 
in his physical as well as in his moral character. According 
to the modes adopted, he will go on either degenerating or 
improving. Anthropology comes in here with the highest, and at 
the same time most practical aim, and its utility in this alone 



INTEODUOTIOK 13 

should secure for it the encouragement and patronage of our learned 
.societies. 

Anthropology, be it observed, is far from being a science of 
luxury. At this very moment it is leading to most important 
results, and is throwing new light upon all the sciences bearing 
upon Man. j^aturalists, physicians, men of letters, artists, philo- 
sophers, lawyers, diplomatists, travellers, archaeologists, and linguists, 
are all carrying the material wherewith to build the edifice. To 
those who apply themselves closely to its study it is a somewhat 
arduous task, but to the great majority it is a recreation. 



History. 

This may be recited very briefly. The study of nature, and of 
Man in particular, may be traced back to the period of the earliest 
efforts of the human mind ; but anthropology as a special science, 
separate from natural history, is but of yesterday. Unknown up 
to the close of the last century, it has only started into life towards 
the latter half of the nineteenth century. Its rudiments are found 
scattered up and down in the writings of physicians and natu- 
ralists. The former by observing Man under all climates, the latter 
by placing him as the tyjDc of the perfectly organised being, 
accomplished for anthropology what M. Jourdain did for prose. 

Such were Hippocrates, who describes in his book, " On Water, 
Air, and Place," the character of "the Scythians and other no- 
madic tribes," as well as the cranial malformations of the Macro- 
cepliali on the other side of Palus-Meotidus ; Aristotle, who com- 
pares apes with Man, and speaks of human hybrids and of 
Ethiopians ; Pliny, whose frequently fantastic recitals have been 
justly criticised by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire ; Galen, who, 
while dissecting monkeys, prepared the Avay for human anatomy 
founded by Mundinus and Yesalius (1544). As to philosophers, 
they have had nothing to say with respect to Man's history, l^o 
doubt some, like Lucretius, have shown their acuteness of appre- 
hension of its facts; but those who long afterwards proclaimed 



14 INTEODUCTION. 

the true method of observation have the greatest claim on onr 
gratitude. 

JSTatural History took its rise with Aristotle, and made no 
further progress. Belon, in 1655, was the first to compare the 
skeleton of Man with that of another animal — namely, a bird. Up 
to the eighteenth century, the chef-cVoeuvre of creation, to use a 
classical expression, Avas only studied by physicians. Linnaeus, in 
1755, restored him to his place in his classification, and by applying 
to him his binary nomenclature, under the title of homo sapiens, 
obliged naturalists to accept him as belonging to them. About 
the same period Buffon devoted two volumes to the "Varietes- 
Humaines" (1749). 

The way was open. Almost simultaneously Daubenton, in 1764, 
published his memoir on "La Situation du trou Occipital dans 
THomme et les Animaux;" Blumenbach, in 1775, his inaugural 
thesis on " Les Variations du Genre Humain ; " Soemmering, in 
1785, his " Memoire sur les iN'egres;" Camper, in 1791, his pos- 
thumous dissertation, " Sur les Differences que presente le Visage 
dans les Eaces Humaines;" White, in 1799, his work on "The 
regular gradation of Man and Animals." 

Many notable travels were undertaken about this period. On 
land we may mention those of Byron, Bruce, Lavaillant, Pallas, 
Barrow; on the sea, those of Bougainville, Cook, La Perouse, 
Peron. The Museum of Paris shone out in all its full lustre ; 
natural history made gigantic strides ; observations were going on 
quietly. By degrees, two rival schools sprang up : the one called 
the classique, represented by Cuvier, which confined itself to facts ; 
the other called the philosophical, or des idees, which Lamarck and 
Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire represented. Lamentable prejudices 
unfortunately came to be mingled with their wranglings. Linnajus 
and Blumenbach had spoken of mankind without attaching any 
definite importance to it. Lamarck maintained that species vary 
and are transformed. So far orthodoxy was not affected, but 
the danger appeared serious ; the younger men were carried away 
with the eloqu'ence of ^Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. A watch- 
word seemed to be sent forth : " The world was created in six 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

(lays ; Adam and Eve are the progenitors of all living races ; the- 
universal deluge utterly destroyed everything hut the privileged 
pairs saved with ^N'oah." Science must bend before these articles 
of faith. 

The. first assault was concluded to the detriment of Lamarck^, 
who was too modest in presence of the imposing authority of 
Cuvier. The second was unfavourable to Etienne Geoffroy Saint- 
Hilaire : the transformation theory appeared to be vanquished. The 
third had all sorts of revolutions of fortune, and was prolonged 
up to about the year 1859, after the discovery of Boucher de 
Perthes : the ground was apparently shaken. The classical or 
orthodox school, then knoAvn by the name of monogenist, pleaded 
in favour of the unity of the human species, and of the variability 
of races under the influence of external circumstances and of cross- 
ings. The opposite, or polygenist school, maintained, on the 
contrary, the plurality of races, and the non-influence of external 
circumstances. In France, the former took shelter under the great 
name of Cuvier ; Yirey, Bory de Saint-Vincent, and A. Desmoulins 
Avere the partisans of the latter. But about the year 1813, a 
vigorous champion came forward in favour of the monogenists, in 
the person of Prichard. His most important arguments occupy five 
volumes, and are full of instruction, while they constitute, at the 
• present moment, a veritable vade-meeum for the anthropologist.* 
The work of Prichard was exclusive. Another, after the model of 
Virey's "L'Histoire Naturelle de I'Homme," in 1801, but more 
comprehensive in its character, appeared in London in 1817. It 
was entitled, " Lectures delivered before the College of Surgeons on 
the ISTatural History of Man," by Lawrence, and rather advocated 
the plurality of the human species, although pretending to uphold 
the monogenistic doctrine. These two works, to which we may 
add that of M. Desmoulins on "Les Paces Humaines," in 1826, 
prove that the researches on Man had lost nothing on an appeal to 

* The first edition of " Researches into the Physical History of Man," by 
Prichard, appeared in 1813, and was in one volume ; the second, n two 
volumes, appeared in 1826 ; and the third and last, in fire volumes, from 
1836 to 1837. 



16 INTEODUCTION. 

principles. Linguistics and ethnography, originally almost synony- 
mous terms, and human comparative anatomy, were in course of ; 
development. From Klaproth and Abel de Eemusat to Ecnan, 
Chavee, and Frederic Mtiller, the number of persons won over | 
to anthropology by the study of the comparative structure of ] 
languages was immense.^ 

The first ethnographical society of which there is any record was 
instituted in Paris in 1800, under the title of the '' Societe des 
Observateurs de THomme," and died of inanition during the war. 
The second was instituted in London in 1838, and was of an 
exclusively philanthropic character. The fact of the polygenists 
having declared that the black races are inferior to the vfhite, was 
used as an argument in favour of slavery. The society should have 
set its face against this doctrine, and it suffered the penalty for not 
doing so. The following year, M. Edwards founded the Societe 
Ethnologique de Paris, which has furnished some excellent works, 
at the fore-front of which is to be mentioned a pamphlet by its 
founder, " Sur les Caracteres Physiologiques des Paces Ilumaines 
considerees dans leur Papports avec I'Histoire." Some admirable 
works soon appeared, both in France and elsewhere, having similar 
ethnographical views, among which we may mention, ''L'Homme 
Americain," by Alcide d'Orbigny.f 

In comparative anatomy, the skull, to which the labours of the 
first anthropologists had been directed, continued to attract their 
attention. The " Decades " of Blumenbach were followed by 
others. Li 1830, Sandifort published the first volume of his 
"Tabulae Craniorum Diversarum Gentium." In 1839 appeared 
the best work of its kind, the " Crania Americana," by Morton ; 
and in 1844, his "Crania ^gyptiaca." In 1845, the "Atlas de 
Cranioscopie," by Carus ; in 1856, the first volume of " Crania 
Britannica," by Davis and Thurnam ; in 1857, the " Crania 
Selecta," by Von Baer, &c. Many others might be mentioned. 

* " La LingTiistique," by M. Abel Hovelacque. 2nd edition, Bibliotheque 
des Sciences Contemporaines. Paris, 1876. 

f " L'Homme Americain de rAmeriqne Meridionale," by Alcide d'Orbigny. 
Two vols. Paris, 1839. 



INTEODUCTION". 17 

At Heidelberg, Tiedemann, known by bis incomplete cubic 
measurements of the skull ; in Sweden, Eetzius, by bis division 
of skulls into long and short; in Holland, Yan der Hoeven; in 
Germany, Wagner, Huscbke, Lucse, &c. Tbe influence of such 
. authorities as these somewhat encouraged anatomists in France to 
enter upon so unpopular a path of study ; and, besides Daubenton, 
we may mention Bureau de la Malle, Dubreuil, Foville, Maslieurat- 
Lagemard, Pucheran, Lelut, Parchappe, Serres, Jacquart, Joulin. 

Anthropology, up to this time, did not exist as a separate 
science ; its efforts were of a restricted character ; it had no pro- 
gramme ; its name was mentioned only casually. It became of the 
utmost importance to centralise all the studies bearing upon the 
natural history of Man and his races. This was the task of the ^ 
Societe d Anthropologic, which was founded in Paris in 18f9, 
under the direction of Dr. Paul Broca, a professor of the Faculty 
of Medicine, by a few savants, among whom may be mentioned 
Isidore G-eoffroy Saint-Hilaire, De Quatrefages, Gratiolet, Dareste, 
Ernest Godard, Charles Robin, Beclard, &c. The society, con- 
ceived in the most liberal spirit, was composed of scientific men of 
every denomination, whether literary men or those devoted to the 
study of art, so that, if any question arose, it could be discussed by 
the highest authorities. Anthropology, which, in 1838, gave to 
the Museum the chair of the Natural History of Man, started on 
a new basis. 

Following the example of Paris, other cities founded societies 
bearing the same name : viz. London, in 1863 ; ^ew York, St. 
Petersburg, and Moscow, in 1865; Manchester, in 1866; Florence, 
in 1868 ; Berlin, in 1869 ; Yienna, in 1870 ; Stockholm and Tiflis, 
in 1874. 

The date of the foundation of the society of Paris was coincident 
with two events of the highest importance : the public confirmation 
of the discovery of Boucher de Perthes, who traced back the 
antiquity of Man to a remote period; and the publication of a 
work by Darwin on the " Origin of Species," which has contributed 
so much to give to the science of Man the impetus of which we are 
now the witness. It marks with distinguished significance the 

C 



18 INTEODUCTIOK 

conimencemeiit of a new era. It is with, the facts and established 
opinions generally received at the present time that we propose to 
deal in this volume. Many names have been omitted in this brief 
historical outline, which we shall hope to have an opportunity of 
supplying as we proceed. 

Plan of the Work. 

The plan of this work is a necessary sequence from what has 
been stated. Of the two branches of the study of Man — the one 
anthropology proper, which has to do with Man and his races, the 
other ethnology, which treats of nations — the former will alone 
occupy our attention. 

Our subject naturally divides itself into two parts. (1) The study 
of Man considered as a zoological group. (2) The study of human 
races as divisions of that group. In the first part we shall con- 
sider the three series of characters — the physical, the physio- 
logical, and the pathological — upon which natural history depends ; 
and in the second part, more particularly those to be deduced from 
archseology, linguistics, and ethnography. 

In the first part we shall endeavour to show the relations which 
subsist between Man and animals, and shall consider a number of 
questions which have reference to medical studies, regard Man in his 
ensemble, and have an especial bearing on our subject. 

In the second part, after describing the characteristics which 
serve to distinguish races, we shall give a summary of the various 
physical types which the present improved state of science exhibits 
to us, and upon which the determination of races depends. 

In the third part we shall detail the various theories as to Man's 
origin. 

It will be necessary for us to say a few words, by way of intro- 
duction, as to the methods of zoological classification, and to give a 
description of the animals to which we shall frequently have to 
refer. 

Zoological Classification. 

When the naturalist looks off from matters of detail, and con- 
templates the animal kingdom in its entirety, he is struck with the 



1 



INTEODUCTIOK 19 

small number of agencies at work to obtain the most diverse 
forms. He observes that in a general way there is a continual pro- 
gression from the simplest to the most complex organisms. He 
s]3eaks of it, in other words, as " the general harmony of nature," 
^' the plan followed by nature," " unity of type, of agreement in 
form, or of organic likeness." He compares the succession of 
beings to a ladder (Bonnet), to a chain, or to a tree with many 
branches. He has an intuitive impression, whether formulated or 
not, that there is a succession and gradation in the different types 
of animals, as if some organic force were incessantly in operation, 
modifying and increasing the number and variety of species. 
Cuvier, who feared to soar above facts, maintained, on the contrary, 
the doctrine of successive creations. He then abandoned it, and 
finally maintained, with Isidore Saint-Hilaire, that existing species 
are not descended from those of a bygone age."^ 

Whatever may be the secret of the origin of animated beings, it 
is certain that appearances seem to favour the idea that they sprung 
originally from one another. Many gaps exist between them; 
but their number is daily decreasing, owing to unexpected dis- 
coveries in the bowels of the earth, in the depths of the 
ocean, or in some hitherto unexplored corner of the globe. It 
has been repeatedly said : " jS'ature does not make sudden jumps." 
There is a successiveness observable throughout, especially in 
minutiae. 

M. Ch. Martins and M, Durand (de Gros) have furnished us Avith 
examples of this.f The method by which the fin is transformed 
into the bent limb, having one direction, as in the tortoise, or an 
opposite one, as in Man ; how it becomes divided into a longitu- 
dinal shaft, which is enlarged or reduced in size, according as it 
goes to form the leg of the dog, the wild boar, the horse, or the 
gorilla, is truly marvellous. 

Agassiz used to demonstrate to his audience at JSTew York how 

""" "Vie et Doctrine de E. Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire." Paris, 18i7. 

t " Creation et Transformisme," by J. P. Durand (de Gros), in " Bull. Soc. 
d'Anthrop." 2nd series, vol. v., 1870 ; " Hommes et Singes," by L. Agassiz, 
in the " Revue Scientifique," 2nd series, vol. iii. p. 818, 1874. 

C 2 



20 INTEODUCTION. 

" by twisting this, and elongating that," one might form a fish^ 
a reptile, a mammifer, or an ape, &c.* 

Hence the difficulties which naturalists experience in exactly- 
circumscribing the limits of the divisions upon which their classi- 
fications rest, and of giving to each the proper name which be- 
longs to it. That which is family in one becomes order in another ; 
that which is genus becomes species, and vice versa. All depends 
upon the point of view from which they are regarded, and the 
particular opinion formed as to their characteristic features. 

In order to account for the disputes which are going on about 
Man, and the place which he occupies relatively to other beings, it 
is necessary that this should be thoroughly understood. In some, 
classifications depend upon clearly defined natural groups, which are 
recognised, though they cannot be strictly demonstrated. In others 
they are based upon certain groups shading off into contiguous 
groups, " Methods of classification," writes Daubenton, " have 
one principal defect which it is impossible to avoid, namely, that 
art takes a larger share in their arrangement than nature." "Classi- 
fications," says Lamarck, " are artificial methods ; nature has not 
really formed either classes, orders, families, genera, or unvarying 
species — ^but individuals only." Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, on his return 
from Egypt, alluded to them in these terms : "A useful method^ 
doubtless, but necessarily imperfect in its resources, and incomplete 
in its aim; true science ought to have higher aspirations." The 
illustrious opponent of Cuvier, who was about to publish a cata- 
logue of the Museum, which was a veritable classification, gave it 
up, although the proof-sheets were in the press. 

l!f evertheless, classifications are valuable, and, indeed, indispen- 
sable. They assist study, bring together animated beings, generally 
in a natural way, and mark the measure of progress accomplished. 
In natural history we understand classification to mean the grouping 
together of beings according to their degree of probable relationship, 
based on the number and importance of their common characters. 

Thus, throughout the whole of the animal kingdom, one observes 

* " Hommes et Singes," by L. Agassiz, in the " Kevue Scientifique,"^ 
2nd series, vol. iii. p. 818, 1874. 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

one principal special feature wherelDy to establish, a primary division 
of four branches. From the presence or absence of a skeleton, 
whether internal or external, we distinguish Zoophytes, Mollusca, 
the Articulata, and the Yertebrata. We may remark, before going 
farther, that zoophytes approximate in their inferior forms to 
cryptogams of the vegetable kingdom, but that noAV a new kingdom 
has been placed between them, formed of organisms still more 
elementary, under the name of regne de protistes (Haeckel). From 
many characters, derived principally from the external covering, 
Yertebrata have been divided into four classes, viz. : Eeptiles, 
Fishes, Birds, and Mammalia. ]\Iammalia, again, are divided — 
according to the existence or non-existence of an external abdominal 
23ouch, in which the yoimg pass through the second phase of 
their development — into two sub-classes — the Didelphs and the 
Monodelphs. 

So far, the chief characteristics present modifications so funda- 
mental in the arrangement of the princi^Dal apparatus of the 
organism that, by virtue of the law of subordination of characters, 
it is easy to confine oneself to a single one. The presence of an 
internal skeleton is proof of a special arrangement of the nervous 
system no less characteristic. Indeed we have no other choice than 
to divide Yertebrata in this way, and it is no less necessary as 
regards those next in the series. The more we descend in the sub- 
divisions of the former, the more the difficulty increases. We then 
have to consider many features in combination, and are not com- 
pelled to adopt any fixed plan. At each step the same uncertainty 
presents itself. AYhat is the general characteristic of the group % 
And is it really the proper one 1 Have we not created it ourselves, 
according to the distinctive feature we may fix upon 1 

AD. scientific classification is provisional and arbitrary, as long as 
a science is in course of development. Its province is chiefly to 
introduce some order into the medley of individuals it has under 
its immediate notice, to set up beacons, the correctness of whose 
guidance time will either establish or annul. Two groiips being 
given, it is easy by laying hold of individuals the most dissimilar 
to distinguish two opposite types. But a certain nimiber of indi- 



22 INTEODUCTION. 

viduals will always more or less deviate from them, and will be 
blended witli contiguous types altogether dissimilar. 

There are few secondary divisions in natural history which can 
be regarded as settled, and which might not be changed to-morrow. 
Thus, to the four classes of Yertebrata, many have added a fifth 
under the name of BatracMans, making them a distinct class from 
reptiles. So the Didelphs, one of the most correctly defined. of 
the sub-classes, from being based on their liaUtat, have been 
displaced and abolished, most of them being classed with the 
Edentata or the Rodents, the remainder becoming a distinct order 
under the name of Pedimana. 

Species is the convenient zoological unit. We will define it in 
due course. On the one side we have varieties ; on the other, 
genera, families, &c. A genus is the assemblage of many species 
presenting certain points of connection ; a family, the assemblage 
of many genera, and so on. Between the genus and the species we 
sometimes have sub-genera ; between the genus and the family, the 
particular tribe we are in search of ; between the family and the 
order, the sub-order, &c. The number of genera in a family, or of 
species in a genus, is indeterminate. 

Mammalia. 

^N'ow, in the class of Mammalia, the Didelphs include the Mar- 
suxnals (kangaroo, opossum) and the Monotremes (echidna, orni- 
thorhynchus). The Monodelphs include (1) The Cetacea and 
Amphibia. (2) The Pachydermata and Ruminantia. (3) The 
Edentata, the Rodentia, the Garnivora, the Cheirojjtera, the Quad- 
rumana, and the Bimana — the Orders according to Cuvier. We 
cannot enlarge further on this subject. In a special work on 
Zoology, published in the Bibliotheque des Sciences Contem- 
poraines, will be found what the general opinion is as to these 
divisions. We have to do with the last two, and Ave shall discuss, 
them according to their relative importance. 

Linnteus associated Man, the monkey, and the bat, in one and 
the same order, under the name of Primates, This purely zoolo- 



INTKODUCTION. 23 

gical arrangement, which placed Man at the head of the series of 
animated beings, greatly disturbed Blumenbach, Lacepede, Dau- 
benton, and Cuvier ; and in a spirit of reaction, as it would seem, 
Cuvier proceeded to isolate Man in a distinct order, and placed the 
monkey in another order, the bat in a third, &c. 

Two principal classifications are before us, in which the distance 
which separates Man from his nearest zoological connections is 
estimated differently. In one, Man forms a distinct order, in the 
same category as the ape or one of the Carnaria ; in the other, he 
forms merely one family in the order of Primates, the various 
divisions of the monkey tribe coming afterwards. Thus : 

Primates. 

First system of classification. — First Order : Man. Second Order : 
Apes. Tliird Order : Bats. Fourth Order : Dogs, Bears, &c. 

Second system of classification. — First Order : Primates. First 
Family : Man. Second Family : The higher Apes, or Anthropoids 
(the gorilla, the chimpanzee, the orang, and the gibbon). TJiird 
Family. The Monkeys of the Old Continent, or Pithecians 
(semnopithecus, guenon, magot, cynocephalus [baboon]). Fourth 
Family : The Monkeys of the N'ew Continent, or Cebians (howl- 
. ing monkey, atele [spider monkey], sajou, ouistiti [marmoset]). 
Fifth Family : The Lemurs, Macauco, Galseopithecus.* 

* We draw attention to tlie various names in this list, to which we shall 
frequently have to refer. In current language we sometimes speak of the 
Anthropoids as the great apes or monkeys, and the Pithecians and Cebians 
as the common or true monkeys. Frequently the epithet " Simian" will occur 
in like manner, as synonymous with monkey -like, particularly those of the 
first three families. 

Lesson united the Pithecians and the Cebians, under the name of 
Simiades ; so that he had in the first order, or Primates, five families : 
the Hommideae, the Anthropomorph^, the Simiadae, the Lemuriens, and the 
False Lemuriens. Huxley divides his families into seven — namely: the 
Anthropini (m^n), the Catarrhini, the Platyrrhini, the Arctopithecini, or 
Marmosets, the Lemurs, the Cheiromyini, and the Galseopitheci, or flying 
monkeys. Two of these appellations originated with Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, 
the Catarrhini, or monkeys of the Old Continent ; and the Platyrrhini, or 



24 INTEODUCTIOK 

Second Order : The Cheiroptera, or Bats. 

Tliird Order : The Carnaria. First Family : The Plantigrades. 
Second Family : The Digitigrades, &c. 

Antliropoid Aioes. 

Yf e notice that the Lemurs, or inferior monkeys, form the 
transition between the common monkey and various genera 
scattered through the succeeding orders. For example, between 
the family of Anthropoids, the Gibbon forms the connecting link 
^Yiih. the Pithecians j and some of the Cebians have a similar 
relation to the Lemurs. It is from these intermediate forms 
that we fill up the gaps in question. 

Which of these two systems of classification is the better 1 If 
we consulted only our own wishes, the answer would be an easy 
one. Each of us has the consciousness of being vastly superior to 
the highest class of apes, and would desire that the separation 
should be as wide as possible : but this is only a matter of feeling. 
It is a question of fact. Let us proceed then. The question re- 
solves itself into the following terms : 

monkeys of the New Continent, which are distinguished by the structure 
of the nose. Others have understood the word " Catarrhini " to mean those 
without a tail (Anthropoids), or with a tail (Pithecians). The second 
classification which we have above summarised is that which M. Broca has 
adopted in his memoir, '' Sur I'Ordre des Primates," in 1869. 

Among the Anthropoids, the genus Gorilla is limited to a single species, 
the Gorilla Savagii, whose habits have been described by Paul du Chaillti. 
— (" Voyages et Aventures dans I'Afrique Equatoriale." Paul du Chaillu. 
Paris, 1863. And " A Journey to Ashango Land," by the same author. 
London, 1867.) Of the Chimpanzee, or Troglodytes, there are at least six 
species : the black, the most common ; the Aubryi, a specimen of which was 
brought to France by Count Aubrey ; the Calvus, or bald ; and the Koolo- 
kamba, mentioned by M. du Chaillu ; the Schweinf urthii, from the rivers of 
the White Mle ; and the Livingstonii, or Soke, from the banks of Lake 
Benguela. With the exception of the last two, all are to be found from the 
Gambia to the 13th degree of south latitude. The Orang-outang, or Simia, 
or Satyrus, includes two species : the Rufus, or red-haired, of Borneo ; and 
the Bicolor, of Sumatra. Lastly, the Gibbon, or Hylobates, has numerous 
species, of which about ten have been described. The largest is the 
Siamang, or' Hylobates Syndactylus. 



INTKODUOTION. 25 

What is the value of the characteristic points of difference be- 
tween Man and monkeys, and especially the anthropoid apes 1 Are 
these differences as great as those which separate two families or 
two orders *? 

The nature of the reply will be dependent on the facts we are 
about to set forth in the following chapter, and which M, Eroca 
proposes to call anthropologie zoologique.'^ 

* M. Broca, in the article in tlie " Dictionnaire Encycl. des Sciences 
Medicale," mentioned at page 8, divides anthropology as follows : (1) Zoo- 
logical anthropology, or the study of the human group considered in its 
relations with the rest of organised nature ; (2) Descriptive anthropology, 
or the study of the human group considered in its individual relations ; 
(3) General anthropology, or the study of the human group considered as a 
whole. On one occasion our esteemed master rehearsed to us his views 
somewhat as follows : Medicine studies individuals ; ethnography, peoples ; 
ethnology, races ; and general anthropology, man in his eyisemhle, and in his 
relations with animals — this last constituting a particular section as zoological 
anthropology. Our objection is, that the denomination " zoological " relates 
as much to the part which treats of the human races as to that which treats 
of Man in general, and that we proceed by the same methods in both, the 
pre-eminence attaching to anatomical characters. We wish that ethno- 
logy were taken, according to its etymological sense, to express the general 
science of peoples, according to Frederic Miiller's method, and that the 
study and description of primitive races, regarded as natural divisions of 
the humangroup, were left to anthropology proper. (See page 8.) M. Broca 
in his system has considered ethnology as merely a branch of anthropology, 
which consequently should enter into the plan of this work; whilst in 
ours, ethnology, though furnishing numerous materials to anthropology, 
preserves an entire independence, and requires a distinct volume. 



PAET I. 

OF MAN COJ^SIDEEED m HIS ENSEMBLE, AND IN 
HIS EELATIONS WITH ANIMALS. 



CHAPTEE I. 
PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. 

SKELETON AND SKULL IN GENERAL ZOOLOGICAL FACIAL ANGLE 

CRANIAL CAPACITY SITUATION AND DIRECTION OF THE OCCIPITAL 

FORAMEN OCCIPITAL AND BIORBITAL ANGLES. 

The characters of the human group are of two orders : some 
organic, to be studied on the skeleton and on the dead body ; 
others physiological, on the living. Among the former, those to be 
drawn from the skeleton occupy the first rank ; the skeleton, in 
fact, determines the general form of the body, serves for the 
attachment of muscles, and marks out the boundaries of the 
visceral cavities. 

Osteologlcal Considerations. 

The skeleton of Mammalia — the class of Vertebrata which will 
alone engage our attention — is composed (1) Of a central axis, con- 
stituted-by the bodies of the vertebrae ; (2) Of a series of osseous 
arcs directed backwards, to form, by their aggregation, a large 
canal, in which are contained the brain, the cerebellum, and the 
spinal cord; (3) Of a series of arcs directed forwards, bounding 
certain cavities which are occupied, above by the organs of 
vision, smell, and taste — then by the central organs of circulation 
and the lungs — lower down by the digestive apparatus — and lower 
still by the organs of reproduction; (4) Of the appendages to 
various segments called extremities, the anterior serving, in a 
general way, for prehension, the posterior for locomotion. 



Superior Maxillary 
Inferior Maxillary 



Thorax and Ribs 



Occipital. 

Cervical Ver- 
tebrae. 

1st Dorsal Ver- 
tebrae. 

Omoplate. 



.Osiliacus of Pel- 
vis. 




Phalanges. 



Chap. I.] PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. 31 

The skeleton is composed in Man of one hundred and eighty- 
eight bones, exckisive of the patella, a small bone developed in the 
thick part of the tendons of the principal extensor muscle of the 
thigh j that is to say, twenty-six for the vertebral column, eight for 
the cranium, fourteen for the face, thirty-two for each of the superior 
extremities, and thirty for each of the inferior, &c. 

The twenty-six bones of the vertebral column are divided thus : 
seven cervical vertebrae ; twelve dorsal ; five, and sometimes six 
lumbar ; five or six sacral bones, which, being anchylosed, form the 
sacrum ; and four or five caudal, which, more or less welded to- 
gether, form the coccyx. To speak correctly, the cranium is formed 
of three modified vertebrae, and is the true commencement of the 
vertebral column. 

Every vertebra, whether cervical, dorsal, or lumbar, consists 

(1) In the centre, of a foramen, through which the cord passes ; 

(2) Anteriorly, of a body, which is articulated to those of the ver- 
tebrae above and below by a fibro-cartilaginous disc, called the 
intervertebral; (3) Posteriorly, of a spinous process, bifurcated in 
the cervical region, simple in the rest of the column, the bases 
of which are called laminae ; (4) Of two transverse processes, attached 
to the body by two pedicles ; and (5) Of four articular processes, 
which serve to attach the vertebra to those above and below. 

The eight bones of the cranium consist of four middle and 
symmetrical — the occipital, the sphenoid, the ethmoid, and the 
frontal ; and two lateral pairs — the parietal and the temporal. 

The middle portions of the occipital, the sphenoid, and the 
ethmoid represent the body of each of three vertebrae. The large 
fiat portion of the occipital, temporal, and frontal is called the 
squamous portion, or ecaille (shell). These bones come under the 
denomination of flat bones. They have an internal surface, which 
looks towards the cranial cavity, called by M. Broca endocrdne, 
and an external surface. 

The body of the occipital (0, Fig. 2) is formed by the basilar 
process, which is united to the body of the sphenoid by an im- 
portant articulation, the basilar suture. Its surface is transversely 
divided by a semicircular ridge, for the attachment of the muscles 



32 



PHYSICAL CHAEACTERS. 



[Chap. i. 



of the neck, the middle portion of which is occupied by the inion, 
or external occipital protuberance; the portion above, or sur- 
occipital, is separated during a part of intra-uterine existence, and 
exceptionally in the adult, and is designated the interparietal, or 
sub-occipital bone. The portion below has a second curved line, 
also for the attachment of muscles. 




Fig. 2. — F, Frontal bone ; P, Parietal ; 0, Occipital ; T, Temporal ; S, Greater wings of tte 
sphenoid : the body of the bone is underneath ; M, Superior maxiUa ; J, Malar or 
jugal bone ; N, Bones of the nose, or nasal bones ; A, Median portion of the arch, 
or superior alveolar border, called ^oint alveolaire ; E, Nasal spine, or 'point sous-nasal ; 
G, Root of the nose, the bottom of which is occupied by the naso-frontal suture, or 
point nasal ; V, Position of the centre of the coronal, or fronto-parietal suture of the 
cranium, or bregma ; L, Point where the parieto-occipital suture is united to that of 
the opposite side, and to the sagittal, or biparietal suture (not seen in the plate) , or 
lambda ; I, External occipital protuberance, or inion ; B, Mastoid processes ; V, Ex- 
ternal orifice of the auditory canal, also called trou, or point auriculaire ; Z, Zygomatic 
arch, formed, in front, by the malar bone, behind, by a process called the zygomatic, 
arising from the temporal bone ; D, Point where the four sutures unite-r^the coronal, 
the fronto-sphenoid, the temporo-sphenoid, and the temporo-frontal, or pterion i. 
C, Curved line or temporal ridge ; R, Point where this line crosses the coronal 
suture, or stephanion. AH the portion situated below the temporal ridge, marked by 
the letters S D T, constitutes the temporal fossa. 



At the union of the basilar process and the squamous portion is 
the occipital foramen, or foramen magnum of foreign authors, the 
middle, anterior, and posterior portions of which bear the names of 
basion and opisthion, the lateral portions being occupied by the 
occipital condyles, by which it is articulated with the first cervical 
vertebra, or atlas. Two irregularities in the bone sometimes exist^, 



CiTAP. I.] PHYSICAL CHAEACTERS. 33 

namely, in front of the Lasion, an eniinence wliicli lias been called 
the third condyle of the occipital ; and on the external part of the 
ordinary condyles, an eniinence called the jngnlar process. 

The parietal hones (P) present nothing to particularise but a pro- 
jection in the centre, which marks the centre of ossification, and 
takes the name of parietal eminence. The frontal bone (F) is 
divided externally into two portions — the superior and the inferior. 
The superior, or squamous, has at the sides two curved lines, termed 
, temj)oral ridges, which give insertion to the temporal muscle ; and, 
nearer the median line, two projections, termed the frontal eminences. 
The inferior, or sub-cerebral, belongs to the face, and presents from 
without inwatds.v. (1) The external orbital processes, by which it is 
articulated with the malar bones, their sharp lower border forming 
the superior border of the orbits ; (2) Eidges, or superciliary arches, 
which correspond with the position of the eyebrows, and have a 
similar direction ; (3) A jDrojection, or glabella, on the median line. 
The median point, answering to the point of separation of the two 
cerebral and sub-cerebral portions, is called the point sus-orhitalrc, 
or ophryon. 

The surface of the temporal (T) is divisible externalLy^ into three 
portions : a mastoid portion, forming the mastoid processes (B), to 
which powerful muscles are attached ; a squamous portion ; and a 
zygomatic portion. The zygomatic is simply a horizontal process, 
which arises by a root, or longitudinal crest, surmounting the audi- 
tory or auricular opening. A fourth portion is especially seen on 
the inferior and intracranial surface, called the hard or petrous 
portion, in which is enclosed the auditory apparatus. 

The sphenoid (S), so called on account of its being wedged in 
between the bones at the base of the skull, consists of a body, 
which at birth is formed of two portions, called anterior sphenoid 
and posterior sphenoid ; of* two descending wings, or jjterygoid 
l^rocesses, which form the boundaries of the posterior iiares ; of 
two large ascending wings, of which the highest external portion is 
seen at S, Fig. 2 ; and of two lesser horizontal wings, which form 
part of the cranial cavity, where they separate -the middle and 
anterior cerebral fossce. Yiewed from above, that is to say from 

D 



34 



PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. 



[Chap. i. 



the side of the cranial cavity, the body of the sphenoid presents 
an excavation, the sella turcica (L, Fig. 6), a transverse fissure, the 
optic fissure, and between the two a slight ridge, to which the 
Germans have given the name of ephippium. 

The ethmoid has special relation to the nasal fossae, and only 
has interest to the anthropologist from the side of the cranial 
cavity, where it impinges upon the median line between two portions 




Fig. 3.— 0, Supra-orbital, or supra-nasal point, in the centre of the minimum frontal 
width MM ; N, Nasal point in the centre of the naso-frontal suture ; E, Nasal spine, 
or sub-nasal point ; A, Middle point of the superior alveolar arch, or superior 
alveolar point ; S, Point of junction of the temporal ridge and the coronal suture, 
or stephanion ; B, Position of the frontal eminences ; D, Maxillary bones ; J, Malar 
bones ; G, Anterior nares ; Z, Zygomatic arches ; F, Mastoid processes. 

of the frontal, by giving attachment to the crista galli and the 
cribriform lamella, through which the filaments of the olfactory 
nerve pass from the cranial cavity into Ihe nasal fosste. 

The principal bones of the face are the nasal bones (N, Fig. 3), 
which unite with the frontal to form the naso-frontal suture at 
the root of the nose ; the superior maxillary bones (D), a prolonga- 
tion of which, called the ascending process, is articulated with the 
frontal at the sides ; the palate bones, which enter into the forma- 
tion of the roof of the palate behind ; the malar, or jugal bones (J), 



CiiAP. I.] PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. 35 

which project backwards, and at the side, at the jimction of the 
temporal, to form a sort of bridge called the zygomatic arch ; and 
the inferior maxillary bone. The superior maxillary bones are the 
principal bones of the face. At the sides they are articulated with 
the malar bones ; above, they form the inferior wall of the orbits ; 
internally they are united to the bones proper of the nose, and 
form the boundary of the anterior nares ; below, they form, by their 
union, the superior alveolar arch. At the point where the posterior 
border of the ascending process joins the frontal and the os unguis, 
is the particular S23ot for the application of the craniometer, or 
dacryon. On the median line of the part subjacent to the anterior 
nares, are tAvo other important points — the sulvnasal, which corre- 
sponds with the border of the nostril, occupied by an osseous point 
called the nasal s^^ine, and the alveolar point, situated in the middle 
of the alveolar arch, at its anterior and inferior portion. 

The inferior maxillary bone is composed altogether differently — 
of a body, of a vertical and posterior ramus, which forms an angle 
with it, and of a border or alveolar arch. As a matter of detail, 
we may mention the coronoid process and the articular condyle, 
which terminate, the one in front of, the other behind, the superior 
border of the posterior ramus ; then the mental eminence, and 
behind it, internally, the tubercles geni. 

The thorax comprises, besides twelve dorsal vertebrae, which 
close it in behind, the sternum in front (Fig. 1) and twelve ribs on 
each side. Seven, called the true ribs, are directly connected with 
the sternum by cartilages; and five false are only imited to it 
indirectly, the last two bearing the name' of floating. 

The abdomen has no bone, in the proper sense, belonging to it, 
but at certain points of its parietes are seen thick fibrous bands, 
which are the vestiges of ribs to be found in some mammalia, and 
especially in reptiles. 

The pelvic cavity, or pelvis (Fig. 10), is composed of bones 
which equally appertain to other parts, namely, to the vertebral 
column and the inferior extremities. 

Each extremity is composed (1) Of a base, Avhich is the shoulder 
in the one and the haunch in the other. The bones which com- 
pose it form, by uniting with those of the opx^osite side, an osseous 

D 2 



36 PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. [Chap, i, 

cincture at each extremity of the trunk. At the superior extremity 
these are the clavicle and scapula ; and at the inferior, the iliac, or 
coxal bone, formed of three primordial bones — the pubis, the 
ischium, and the ilium. (2) Of a first segment, the arm, formed 
by the humerus ; and the thigh, by the femur. (3) Of a second 
segment, the forearm, f ornied by the radius and ulna ; and the- 
leg, by the tibia and fibula. (4) Of a third segment, the hand, 
made up of eight bones for the carpus, five for the metacarpus, 
and three for each finger, except the first, which has only two ; 
and the foot, made up of seven bones for the tarsus, five for the 
metatarsus, and three for each toe, except the first, which has only 
two. Of the bones of the tarsus, the calcaneum, or bone of the 
heel, merits particidar notice. 

The femur, which we select as an example of a long bone, con- 
sists of (1) a shaft, or diaphysis, formed on its outer surface of a; 
layer of compact tissue, and on its inner of a medullary canal ; and 
(2) of extremities, or epiphyses. At the upper extremity are the- 
greater and lesser trochanter — processes for the insertion of 
muscles ; the neck, which is very long, and takes aii oblique out- 
ward direction; and the articular head. The lower extremity 
consists of an internal and external condyle, and an articular 
surface. The humerus consists, in like manner, of a shaft, two 
tuberosities at the upper extremity, a very short neck, and a head ; 
inferiorly, of two processes — an external and an internal condyle. 

The bones, Avhether long, short, or flat, are covered by in- 
equalities, tubercles, eminences, or processes, all having the same 
object — namely, to furnish points of attacliment for muscles and 
ligaments. It is to these several points we apply our instruments, 
as well as to certain edges and prominences, when making osteo- 
metric measurements. We ought to mention also the styloid 
process, at the outer side of the lower extremity of the radius ; 
and the internal malleolus, on the inner side of the lower extremity 
of the tibia, &c. The flat bones of the cranium are united together 
by sutures, the long bones of the extremities by articulations. 
The most interesting of these latter, as far as we are concerned, is 
(1) The scapulo-humeral, in which the head of the humerus is 
received into the glenoid cavity of the scapula, a sort of ligamentous 



Ohap. I.] PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. 37 

bag, in wliicli tlie t\yo surfaces are kept in contact, and at the same 
time are permitted to glide easily the one upon the other. (2) The 
coxo-femoral ' articulation, in which the head of the femur is 
received into the cotyloid cavity of the ilium. (3) The hinge-like 
articulations of the elbow and the ankle-joints, which only permit 
the movements of flexion and extension. (4) The superior articu- 
lation of the radius, so marvellously ada^Dted for free rotation in 
every direction, &c, 

Jjones, when first formed, consist of cartilage, the osseous matter 
being deposited at certain points, which afterwards coalesce. Later 
on, when the entire bone has become fully formed, and old age 
begins, those with sutures become soldered together edge to edge. 
Thus we have two orders of phenomena — the fusion of osseous 
points in one and the same bone, and the fusion of distinct and 
contiguous bones, which we must be careful not to confound, and 
upon which we shall have more to say presently. 

Variations of the SJieleton. 

The number of bones slightly varies in the mammalian series. 
All have seven cervical vertebrae, except the ai, or sloth, Avhich has 
nine, and the lamantin, or sea-cow, eight. Among long-necked 
quadrupeds, as the giraffe, they only increase in height. The 
number of dorsal vertebros, and of pairs of ribs which they support, 
is less constant — from eleven in the bat, they attain to nineteen or 
twenty in the elephant. The number of the lumbar vertebrai 
deviates but little, and varies generally from four to seven. The 
lamantin, however, has but one, while the dolphin has eighteen. 
These inconstancies do not, however, appear to have the importance 
which we might imagine. Genera far removed from one another 
have the same number of ribs or dorsal vertebrae : as the orang, 
the hare, the camel, the cat, and the kangaroo, which have twelve ; 
while contiguous species have a different number, as the ox of 
Europe, which has thirteen ; the aurochs, or wild ox, fourteen ; and 
the bison, fifteen — all three of the genus bos, Often the difference 
is merely that a liunbar vertebra becomes dorsal, or vice versa. 
When, in the hiiman subject, there is a thirteenth rib on one side 



38 PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. [Chap. i. 

only, or thirteen on both, a lumbar vertebra is the point of articu- 
lation. The nimiber of caudal or coccygean vertebrae varies in the 
monkey tribe — not including the anthropoid apes — from, one to four 
in the magot to tvrenty-nine to thirty-one in the baboon and some 
of the ateles ; and among the rest of mammalia, from two in the 
Egyptian tapir to sixty in the Cape rorqual. 

The bones of the head are constructed in animals after the same 
model as in Man ; certain parts of them are more or less developed ; 
the cells or sinuses interposed between their laminae are more or 
less large ; some sutures, by closing slowly, leave certain portions 
of the bone isolated ; while others, OAving to their becoming con- 
solidated early, diminish the numlDcr of bones. Hence the cause of 
the differences met with between them. Man, at his full develop- 
ment, has the smallest number of bones, and the rodents, at birth,, 
the greatest number. Among the latter, the squamous portion of 
the occipital bone is divided into two, while the i)arietal and frontal 
are cemented together into one. 

The anterior and posterior sphenoids, united in Man, are distinct 
in the greater number of mammalia. The squamous and petrous' 
portions of the temporal, on the contrary, remain distinct in the latter,, 
and perhaps, with one exception, are united in Man and the monkey 
tribe.* Moreover, we frequently observe in Man, as an anomaly,, 
the reproduction of normal arrangements in other animals, as if 
by a sort of reversion towards certain states v/hich its own organisa- 
tion might have gone through previously. Thus the fusion of 
the parietals into one — as among the rodents — the division of the 
frontal into two separate bones — common among mammalia — th© 
persistence of an interparietal bone, &c. The early fusion of the 
two bones proper of the nose, especially in the inferior races, and 
the tardy consolidation, on the contrary, of the intermaxillary with 
the maxillary, are other examples of the same kind. 

Bone-$ of tlie Nose. 
The bones of the nose proper remain separated on the median 
line up to an advanced age in the white ; their union is frequently 

* " Traite d'Auatomie Comparee," &c., by J. F. Meckel. Translated into 
Trench by Th. Schuster. Ten vols. 8vo. Paris, 1858. 



Chap, i.] PHYSICAL CHARACTEES. 39 

completed at twenty or twenty-five years in Hottentots. Of twenty- 
seven skeletons of adult men, taken at random by M. Broca, the 
fusion existed in five, all in negroes. In the chimpanzee they 
appear united at two years of age ; in the gorilla and the pithecians 
even sooner. But in the cebians their fusion is slow, so that these 
resemble Man in this respect more than the anthropoids. 

Camper has forgotten the tardy union of the intermaxillary 
with the maxillary bones, and having made their constant absence 
to be distinctly characteristic of Man, we must speak of them more 
at length. 

The intermaxillary bones, to the number of two, appear to be 
united in the form of a wedge, enclosed between the two superior 
maxillary, supporting the incisor teeth, and having above two 
processes which partly close in the anterior opening of the nasal 
f ossaa. Though easily seen up to the third month, their independent 
existence is brief, they commence to consolidate at that period at 
their external side, and become united with the maxillary about 
the third year. Il^evertheless their palatine sutures do not entirely 
disappear till towards twelve or fourteen years of age, according to 
M. Sappey, and were still visible in one hundred and four out of 
two hundred French skulls examined by M. Hamy. All the 
phases of their solidification would be retarded in the negro races. 

Intermaxillary Bones. 

In the majority of mammalia the intermaxillary bones continue 
on the contrary, beyond adult age, and remain distinct. The 
elephant, the dolphin, and the sheep are an exception, and resemble 
Man in this respect; so do the anthropoids — their intermaxillary 
suture should disappear about the end of the, first dentition, accord- 
ing to M. Vogt. In descending the scale in monkeys, the inter- 
maxillary generally partakes of the characters which it has in the 
generality of quadrupeds. 

In the extremities the general type of Man and mammalia varies 
but little, and is unimportant. Some bones, for example, wliich, 
owing to the habits of the species, are superfluous, become atrophied, 
or anchylosed together. Thus the clavicles are reduced to mere 



40 PHYSICAL CHAEACTERS. [Chap. i. 

vestiges in some carnivora, and disappear altogether in ruminants 
and ampliibions mammalia. Sometimes one of tlie bones of tlie 
forearm or tlie leg becomes reduced in size, or anchylosed to the 
adjoining one. The same phenomenon is observed even more fre- 
quently at their extremities. The metatarsal or metacarpal bones 
are four in number in the sloth, two in the stag, and one, called 
the cannon bone, in the horse. There is some relation between 
this number and that of the digits or toes. Thus the pig has only 
four digits, the rhinoceros three, the greater number of ruminants 
two, and the horse but one, called the hoof. In the horse the 
atrophy of other digits is manifest, the vestiges of them remaining 
at the sides in the form of needle-like roughnesses. 

An analogous absence, as if from want of use, occurs in the bones 
of the pelvis of amphibious mammalia, whose hinder extremities 
have become of little importance, or are wanting. The pelvis is 
only represented by certain osseous styles which are amalgamated 
with the soft parts, or is altogether wanting. This is to be noticed 
in the dugong, the porpoise, the whale, &c. 

Relations of the Cranium to the Face. 

The cranium is formed of two portions in all mammalia — the 
■ cranium proper, the receptacle of the brain ; and the face, the . 
receptacle of the principal organs of sense and of the masticatory 
apparatus. Their development is in an inverse ratio, and their 
respective situation in relation to that development. In Man the 
cranium is large and placed above the face ; in quadrupeds it be- 
comes less, and recedes more and more backwards ; in monkeys the 
size and situation of the cranium and face are intermedial. These 
two characters thus gissume a considerable importance, and are the 
point cle depart of other subordinate characters, which, in their 
turn, assist in distinguishing men and animals. It is natural, 
therefore, that anthropologists should early have bethought them of 
some decided methods of estimating their value. Various methods 
have been proposed ; the one most in vogue is that of the facial angles. 

This was one of the hrst attempts of craniometry. This branch 
of anthropology, so cultivated at the present time, has been hitherto 



Chap, i.] 



PHYSICAL CHARACTEES. 



41 



studied especially with reference to the comparison of races, and 
will consequently be treated at length in the second part of this 
work, which is specially set apart for that purpose. We will not 
now anticipate the subject further than by mentioning a few of the 
more striking characters which distinguish ]\Ian in general from 
animals. 

Facial Angles. 

The facial angles are four in number. The most ancient is the 
angle of Camper. It is formed by two lines^ one called the hori- 




Fia. 4.— HH', Horizontal of Camper; F F', Facial line of Camper; F A H', True 
angle of Camper ; F B K, Angle of Geolfroy Saint-Hilaire and Cnvier, its vertex 
at the edge of the incisors ; I G M, Angle of Jules Cloquet, its vertex at the alveolar 
border ; O D H', Angle of Jacquart, the sub-nasal point ; O D, Facial line of 
Jacquart. 

The most useful angle is that of Cloquet, with, its vertex at C, but whose facial 
line, C T, impinges, not at the most projecting point of the forehead, but imme- 
diately above the superciliary arches. 

zontal, H H', jFig. 4, which its author marked as a principal guide, 
over the auditory opening, and the inferior border of the nares ; 
the other, called the facial, F Y, tangent to the two most pro- 
minent points of the face — the glabella, or central point of the 
forehead, above; the surface anterior to the incisor teeth, below. 



42 PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. [Chap. i. 

The original intention of Pierre Camper^ was to give to artists- 
a method of comparing the heads of living persons with the skulls 
of different races and of different ages ; but in another work he 
extended its nse to animals. 

Cami^er^s Angle. 

Its apex was situated at the intersection of these two lines, at 
a point, A, Pig. 4, placed sometimes in front of the superior 
maxillary, as in negToes ; sometimes behind, as in many animals. 
— the dog, for example ; or at the nasal spine, as in the white 
races. " The angle which the facial or characteristic line of the 
face makes," says Camper, "varies from 70 to 80 degrees in the 
human species. All above is resolved by the rules of art, all below 
bears resemblance to that of apes. If I make the facial line lean 
forward, I have an antique head ; if backward, the head of a 
negro. If I still more incline it, I have the head of an ape ; and 
if more still, that of a dog, and then that of an idiot." 

The second angle was suggested by Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire and 
Cuvier in 1795, and afterwards abandoned, no doubt owing to the 
difficulty of taking it with accuracy on certain animals. The facial 
line of Camper was maintained, but the horizontal line became 
oblique, K B, passing across from the auditory opening to the border 
of the incisors, B, where the apex of the triangle is situated. 

The third angle is a mean between the two preceding ones. The 
facial line rests tangent superiorly 'at the most prominent part of 
the face, but stops short below, on a level with the superior alveolar 
border, I G. The horizontal line descends obliquely, like that of 
Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier, but terminates at the same 
alveolar border, G, which becomes the apex of the triangle. Jules 
Cloquet adopted it in 1821. 

The fourth angle, which moreover has enjoyed very considerable 
repute, was the result of a misconception. M. Jacquart, in adopt- 
ing it in 1856, thought to follow in the footsteps of Camper, or 

* " Dissertation sur les Differences reelles que presentent les Traits du 
Visage chez les Hommes de differents Pays et de differents Ages," by 
Pierre Camper. Posthumous work published by his son. Paris, 1791 
(written in 1786). 



Chap, i.] PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. 43- 

rather in tlie i)riiici23les which had guided Morton in the construc- 
tion of his goniometer."^ One of these two lines is the facial line 
of Camper, terminating at the nasal spine, D, the other the hori- 
zontal line, but stopping short also at this point, D H'. Its apex 
therefore is always formed at the nasal spine, D. 

Our own measurements, made on more than eleven hundred 
human skulls, and on about a hundred skulls of animals, enable 
us to form a judgment as to the value of these four facial 
angles, t 

Jacquarfs Angle. 

The angle of Jacquart, at its aj)ex at the nasal spine, varies 
under five influences. (1) The degree of prominence of the nasal 
spine, very strongly marked, as M. Eroca has observed, in the 
white races, often not observable in negroes; (2) The degree of 
j)rominence of the giiibella, which, about one hundred and ninety- 
nine times out of i^YO hundred, is the superior point of the facial 
line ; (3) The difference of height of the auditory foramen rela- 
tively to the base of the skull; (4) The more or less marked 
elongation of the face, that is to say, the degree of prognathism ; 
(5) The amount of development forward of the anterior portion of 
the brain, as shown by calculations made among the hydrocephali, 
in Avhom the brain-case is very much enlarged, and among the 
microcephali, in whom it is very much diminished in size. Under 
all these various influences, it is very difficult to determine which 
has the greatest predominance, and consequently A\diich represents 
the angle of Jacquart. 

The angle of Camper diminishes or increases for the same 
reasons, except that ,it has no reference to the prominence of the 
nasal spine. It takes account, however, of the elongation of the 
face in its sub-nasal portion, which has by far the most influence 



''^"Mensuration de I'Angie Facial et Gonionietres," by H. Jacquart, in 
" Mem. Soc. de Biologie," 1855 ; " De la Valeur de I'Os Epactal " (measure- 
ments of sixteen facial angles), by tlie same author, in "Journal Anat. et 
Physiol.," 1866; " Crania Americana," by S. G. Morton, Philadelphia, 1839.- 

f "Etudes sur Pierre Camper et sur 1' Angle Facial dit de Camper," by 
Paul Topinard, in " Revue d' Anthropologic," vol. ii., 1874. 



44 PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. [Chap. i. 

on prognatliism in Man, and wliich. the angle of Jacquart altogether 
leaves out of consideration. 



Angles of G-eoffroy and Ctcvler. 



4 



The angle of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier also sets aside 
the nasal spine, and takes in, in the same way, the sub-nasal region 
of the face ; but at the same time exhibiting it in a more complete 
manner. Hence Ave shall accord to it the preference. Why, 
indeed, should we preserve the pretended horizontal line of Camper ? 
It does not exist in Man, and still less in animals. By intersecting 
with the facial line it more frequently has but one virtual apex, which 
.gives an unfavourable impression. The auriculo-dental line of Saint- 
Hilaire and Cuvier is, on the contrary, rational ; it passes along at 
■the same extremity of the face, and does not lose one of the two 
portions which one desires to measure — the development of the 
face. Apart from these objections, which appertain to all the 
facial angles, the angle of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier has 
■one specially belonging to it, namely, the impossibility of accepting 
the line of the teeth as the extremity of the face. In a great many 
animals, in fact, the front teeth are either curved downwards, im- 
moderately elongated into offensive weapons, or are altogether 
wanting ; frequently, also, they fall out during life, or are lost after 
.death. 

Clogicet's Angle. 

The angle of Jules Cloquet has all the advantages of the pre- 
ceding, without this latter objection ; we consider, therefore, that 
it should have the preference. 

The principal objection which attaches to all the facial angles is 
the adoption of, not the most logical point for the superior 
extremity of the facial line, but the most prominent, which is 
always found to be, with the angle of Jacquart, and almost always 
with the others, the glabella, or the centre of the superciliary 
'ridges. Tlie differences of prominence of these parts causes the 
facial angle in Man to vary several degrees ; that is to say, there is 
.as much difference as there is between the natural faculties of 
races the most opposite. In animals it is even more so ; and Cuvier 



Chap. I.] PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. 4S 

made up his mind, under all circumstances, to abide by the 
principle of Camper. What he very properly sought was the 
anterior limit of the brain at the lower part of the forehead — --the 
2Joint siis-orhitalre of M. Broca. In a gorilla, for example, by 
taking the most prominent point, Avhich lies oyer the superciliary 
arches, the facial angle, at its apex at the nasal spine, would be 
about 49 degrees ; whereas in reality, that is to say at the supra- 
orbital point, it is only 37 degrees. Consequently it is always the 
anterior limit of the cranial cavity, whichever angle is preferred, 
and not the most prominent point, Avhich should be taken for the 
facial line superiorly. It is in this Avay that the following angles 
have been measured, for the purpose of showing the difference 
between the most divergent human crania we have met with, an 
anthropoid and a carnivorous animal. 

FACIAL ANGLES (eACIAL LINE AT THE SUPRA-OUBITAL POINt).* 
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. 
Native of Lower Brittany... 68'5 ... 
Namaquois negro ... ... 54*0 ... 

Male gorilla 29-0 ... 

Newfoundland dog... ... 25*0 ... 

The facial angle adopted for the comparison between Man and 
animals is that of Cloquet, the superior extremity of the facial line 
being transferred to the supra-orbital point. We shall give it the- 
name of " amjle fdcial zoologuiney The following table gives some- 
examples of its division : 

ANGLE OF CLOQUET (iTS YERTEX AT THE ALVEOLAR BOEDER AND THE FACIAL 
LINE AT THE SUPRA-ORBITAL POINT). 

Wiiite man, maximum ... ... ... ... 72 '0 

N^imaquois negro, minimum ... ... ... ... 56*0 

2 male chimpanzees ... ... ... ... ... 38*6 

1 „ ,, 1st dentition ... ... ... 51*5 

5 male gorillas 32'2 

3 female gorillas ... ... ... ... ... 31'8 

1 male orang ... .., ... ... ... ... 28'5 

1 „ „ 1st dentition 50*5 

* Tlie angles in this and the following table have been taken principally 
by projection, from drawings made with the craniograph of M. Broca. 



Cloquet. 


Jacquart. 


Camper, 


72-0 . 


.. 85-0 .. 


. 81-5 


560 . 


.. 62-5 .. 


. 59-0 


31-0 . 


.. 320 .. 


. 31-5 


24-5 . 


.. 250 .. 


. 250 



PHYSICAL CHAEACTERS. [Chap. i. 



1 magot (pittecians) 


36-5 


2 macaques „ 


37-4 


3 baboons „ 


32-3 


2 howlers (cebians) 


31-7 


1 maki (lemurians) 


26-5 


2 badgers (plantigrades) 


32-0 


1 bear 


30-5 


2 elephants (proboscideans) 


30.2 


1 seal (amphibia) 


28-0 


1 phascalomys (marsupialia) 


25-0 


2 horses (equida3) 


24-0 


6 dogs (carnivora) 


24-3 


2 foxes „ 


... 22-5 


2 lions „ 


22-5 


2 pacas (rodentia) 


22-2 


2 sheep (ruminantia) 


... 21-5 


2 kangaroos (marsupialia) 


20-4 


1 wild boar (pachydermata) ... 


10-0 



It follows from this (1) That between the narrowest facial angle o 
an adult man, which is 56 degrees, and the widest angle in an adnl! 
anthropoid (one of our chimpanzees), which is 42 degrees, there exists 
an interval as great as these two extremes are exceptional ; (2) Tha 
between anthropoid apes, next in order, there is no such line oi 
demarcation ; (3) That by this characteristic, man is separated ii 
the most remarkable manner from the rest of the mammalia, in 
eluding the anthropoids. It has been argued, from the enormous 
angle in young anthropoids, that one must make the comparison iii 
the child and not in the adult man, and then the distance is quite 
as great. 

The facial angle, then, furnishes a primary characteristic of Mai 
in relation to animals. But it expresses less the relatiou of th( 
size of the face to the size of the cranium, than the absolute 
development of the former. It attains seventy-two degrees in Man 
because the face is small and short, and only ten degrees in th( 
wild boar, because it has considerable length and flatness. 

Metliod of Cuvier. 

Other methods lead to the same result. The most simple 
consists in estimating the importance of each part, and of com 



<:!hap. I.] PHYSICAL CHAEACTERS. 47 

paring tlieiii afterwards. Ciivier estimated, upon sections, tliat the 
'.cranium, in proportion to the face, was as follows : 

White man ... ... ... ... ... 1:1 

Negro ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 : 1*25 

Chimpanzee ... ... ... ... ... 3:1 

Gibbon, sapajou, and macaque ... ... 2:1 

Hedgehog 1:1 

Porcupine ... ... ... ... ... 1:2 

Hare 1:3 

Horse ... ..; ... ... ... ... 1:4 

Whale 1:15 or 20 

Method of Second. 
M. Segond has proposed to measure, upon antero-posterior 
•sections, the various angles formed at the level of the anterior 
border of the occipital foramen, by lines draAvn from the principal 
points of the middle circumference of the head. On these sections 
lie applies a graduated circle, whose centre corresponds to the basion 
(B, Fig. 6), and upon which needles, or movable radii, are directed 
towards the points desired. The face is thus found intercepted by 
iiwo lines, the one separating it from the cranial cavity, and which 
meets at the supra-orbital point ; the other going to the inferior 
border of the jaw ; the cranium being included between the same 
line of separation and the long axis of the occipital foramen. These 
two angles have given us the following results, which satisfactorily 
(exhibit the relative development of the cranium and of the face : 

2 European infants 
6 ,, adults 

3 adult negroes 

1 chimpanzee 
1 gorilla 

4 orangs 

Otter 

Viscacha 

Dog 

Rat 

Fox 

Hippopotamus ... 

The process of Cuvier does not seem to have been applied but 



Cerebral angle. 


Facial angle. 


... 158° ... 


... 22° 


... 159° ... 


... 47° 


... 152° ... 


... 46° 


... 116° ... 


... 56° 


... 108° ... 


... 54° 


... 108° ... 


... 47° 


.. 105° ... 


... 24° 


... 100° ... 


... 41° 


,.. 97° ... 


... 32° 


.. 95° ... 


... 27° 


.. 82° ... 


... 29° 


.. 76° ... 


... 45° 



48 



PHYSICAL CHAEACTERS. 



[Chap, i. 



r 



very a2:)proxiniately ; that of M. Segond gives only one of tlie 
elements of comparison. It would be better to measure directly 
the base of the triangles, of which M. Segond only notices the 
angles, and to calculate their area ; or to obtain, on one side, the 
volume of the face by a sort of triangulation ; and on the other, of 
the cranium by the ordinary cubic measurement of its cavity. M. 
Assezat has commenced that part of the study which relates to the 
face in his " Eecherches sur les Proportions de la Face," communi- 
cated, in 1874, to the French Association for the Advancement of 
Science ; it rests with him to extend it to animals. The question 
as regards the cranium is not yet settled. 

Capacity of Cranial Cavity. 

The capacity of the cranial cavity is arrived at, as we shall see^ 
presently, by tilling this cavity with grains of different sorts, and 
preferably with small shot, in accordance with certain directions.. 
The figures giving the height, volume, or weight of the human- 
body, as compared with the volume of the brain in the mammalian 
series, Avould f onn a very instructive table, if observers had taken 
more care to give its either one of these three elements. Our object, 
however, being to give more particularly the comparison of Man with 
the anthropoid apes, the following data will suffice : 

Cubic centimetres.. 

Man, European male, in round numbers ... ... 1500 

16 gorillas, males 531 

3 „ females ... ... ... ... ... 472 

1 gorilla, 2nd dentition ... ... ... ... 440 

1 „ 1st „ 413 

3 orangs, males ... ... ... ... ... 439 

1 orang, female ... ... ... ... ... 41 8« 

1 . ,, 2nd dentition ... ... ... ... 404 

1 „ 1st „ 425 

7 chimpanzees, males ... ... ... ... 421 

3 ,, females ... ... ... ... 404 

1 chimpanzee, 1st dentition ... ... ... ... 328> 

2 lions ... 321 

Ibcar 265' 

1 wild boar 207 

1 ram ... 150 

1 Newfoundland dog ... ... ... ... ... 105< 



Chap, i.] 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. 



49 



Tims we perceive that the capacity of the cranial cavity, and 
consequently the volume of the organ it encloses, increases slowly 
and gradually in animals, but suddenly and to a prodigious extent 
as we pass to Man. ISTow all the animals except the last two or 
three are obviously of the same size as Man. If the three 
anthropoids are a little less in stature, their limbs, head, chest, and 
especially their abdomen, are much larger ; the gorilla, especially, 
is enormous, and ought, other things being equal, to have greater 
cranial capacity than man. The chimpanzee, however, has only 
38-06 per cent.; the orang, 29-26; and the gorilla, 35-40, as com- 
pared with Man, while the extreme proportions among gorilla males 
are from 31-66 to 41-53 per cent. Moreover, the difference between 
the sexes is as in Man : the cranial capacity of the anthropoid 
male exceeds that of the female by about 50 cubic centimetres. 

M. Vogt has tabulated a number of cubic measurements of the 
skull, obtained by various methods other than our own, and 
amongst them that by the use of millet. They cannot be directly 
compared with ours, but their mutual relations merit consideration. 
Thus : 

Cubic centimetres. 
German skull, male ... ... ... ... ... 1450 



1 gorilla, male 

2 gorillas, females 
8 orangs, males 

7 „ females 

3 chimpanzees, males. 
1 chimpanzee, female 



500 
423 
448 
378 
417 
370 



The conclusions deduced from these agree with preceding ones. 
By taking the mean, on the one hand, of all the anthropoid males 
of M. Vogt, and, on the other, that of all of ours, and comparing 
them with the corresponding mean in Man, we arrive at the follow- 
ing result ; 

Vogt's 12 cases. Topinard's 26 cases. 
Mean absolute capacity of anthropoids... 444 cub. cent. ... 490 cub. cent. 
Its proportion to that of man 30*63 per cent. ... 32-66 per cent. 

It is very evident from this that the three anthropoids in 
question have, cceteris paribus, three times less cranial cavity than 
Man. We do not hesitate to say that, taking into account the 



50 PHYSICAL CHARACTEES. [Chap. i. 

bulk of the body, it is not three, but four and even five times less 
than is here stated. There seems to us to be a very fundamental 
distinction between Man and the animal most nearly resembling 
him. We have three or four times more brain — three or four times 
more thinking matter ! The supremacy which our very exalted 
intellectual faculties secure to us, is confirmed to us by the existence 
of an exceptional development of the organ which is its seat. 
Anatomy furnishes us, at the outset, Avith powerful characters 
sufficient to satisfy the most jealous defenders of human preroga- 
tive, and to console them under the difficulties they will meet with 
in matters of minor importance. We shall consider, shortly, the 
minimum and maximum variations observed in the capacity of the 
human cranium, and in the weight of its contents. But it may be 
useful to notice here these variations in the three great anthropoid 
apes. The three following series refer only to adults, and are the 
most significant that we have been able to bring together. In the 
first, the cubic measurement has been made by one and the same 
process — that of filling the skull with small shot ; in the two others 
the processes were different."^- 

TOPINARD. 

Capacity in cubic centimetres. 

16 gorillas, males ... ... ... ... 475 to 623 

3 „ females 395 „ 580 

3 orangs, males ... ... ... ... 433 „ 478 

7 chimpanzees, males .. , ... ... ... 382 ,, 482 

3 „ females 387 „ 425 

VOGT, ETC.f 

3 gorillas, females ... 370 to 490 

8 orangs, males 390 „ 400 

7 „ females, and doubtful 335 „ 425 

3 chimpanzees, males ... ... ... ... 390 „ 410 

TVYMAN, ETC. 

10 gorillas, males 424 to 535 

4 „ females 385 „ 391 

7 chimpanzees 294 „ 424 

* The anthropoid apes and other animals we have measured were pro- 
cured from the Museum, and also from the Institut Anthropologique. We 
are also indebted to M, Tramont, the preparator of natural history at the 
Institut Anthropologique, and to M. Bouvier, special preparator, for the 
loan of a number of specimens, for which we beg to express our obligations, 

" Memoire sur les Microcephales," by Charles Vogt. Geneva, 1867. 



Chap, i.] 



PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. 



51 



The cranial characters in Man and animals, which we are about 
to examine, are partly the result of the difference of volume of 
their cranial cavity, and partly, and more especially, of the differ- 
ence of their natural posture. Man alone stands perfectly upright ; 




Fig. 5. — K, Anterior border of tlie occipital foramen or basion ; C, Its posterior border, or 
opistMon ; KG, Side view and plane of the occipital foramen; A, Alveolar point ; 
P, Inferior surface of an occipital condyle (articulating with the first cervical 
vertebra, or atlas) ; A P Q, Horizontal plane of the base of the skull, or alveolo- 
condylean ; I, Inion ; L, Lambda ; B, Bregma ; O, Supra-orbital point, or ophryon ; 
G, Glabella ; N, Nasal point ; E, Siib-nasal point ; A, Alveolar point. 

the anthropoid apes have an oblique or side movement in pro- 
gression ; the other mammalia have a horizontal attitude ; hence 
their name — quadrupeds. 

Attitude of the Body 

The head, in all the mammalian series, is articulated with the 
vertebral column by means of the condyles of the occipital, which 
rotate from before backwards, and from behind forwards, in cavities 
formed in the bodies of the first cervical vertebra, or atlas. Between 
and behind these condyles is the occipital foramen, through which 
the spinal cord enters the skull ; its middle and anterior point is 
the basion, and its posterior point, the opisthion, of which we have 
already spoken. In quadrupeds, the occipital foramen and its 
condyles are situated very far backward, and in some, as the horse, 
they no longer occupy the base of the skull, whose posterior surface 

E 2 



52 PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. [Chap. i. 

becomes vertical. The muzzle is at the same time more or less 
elongated, as the zoological facial angle showed us just now. It 
follows (1) That the head is no longer in equilibrium upon the 
vertebral column, but falls forwards. (2) That its position has to 
be raised in order that the animal may see straight before him, the 
axis of the orbits being altered accordingly. In order to com- 
pensate for this excess of weight of the head in front, and to 
prevent its falling forwards, quadrupeds are furnished at the nape 
of the neck with a very powerful ligament, called the posterior 
cervical, known in ruminants by the name of nerf cle hoeuf {psixwax). 
It runs along the spine, becomes free at the level of the seventh 
cervical vertebra, and is inserted into the external occipital pro- 
tuberance, or into a depression which replaces it. The powerful 
muscles of the neck contribute, with it, to preserve the head more 
or less in position. 

Conditions of Equilibrium of the Head. 

In Man, on the contrary, the head is naturally in equilibrium 
upon the vertebral column. The occipital foramen occupies the 
middle of the base of the skull ; the weight of the portion in front 
of the basion, and that of the portion behind it, are sensibly equal, 
and the posterior cervical ligament is wanting, or is only represented 
by a simple aponeurotic interlacing. His position with regard to 
seeing, on the other hand, is horizontal; the axis of the orbits 
is directed forwards, and the back of the retina is anatomically 
arranged in accordance with this. Special physiologists demon- 
strate in the same way that man's organisation is such that he sees 
better in the erect posture. Another result of the position of 
the head is a certain horizontality of the plane of mastication of 
the molars as well as the incisors, as may be shown by inserting 
between the teeth a flat rule, placed parallel to the horizon. 



Situation and Direction of Occipital Foramen. 

The occipital foramen is situated in the European at an equal 
distance between the anterior and posterior portion of the entire 



Chap, i.] PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. 53 

cranium. In the negro, it is a little more backward; in the 
anthropoid ape it is considerably so ; in the various quadrupeds it 
again recedes, and still more in the horse and the hippopotamus, in 
which it no longer forms part of the base of the skull. Its plane 
looks downwards and forwards in the white man, directly down- 
wards in the negro, notably downwards and backwards in the 
anthropoid ape, and still more so in quadrupeds. The fundamental 
characteristics of the occipital foramen are its situation and 
direction. The portion of the occipital wliich is behind the 
foramen is very nearly horizontal, if not convex downwards, in 
Man j whereas in animals it is more or less elevated from before 
backwards, and from below upwards. The foramen cannot there- 
fore be removed backwards, without its posterior border being 
elevated at the same time ; when still farther back, this part of the 
occipital shell is transformed, as it were, into another posterior and 
altogether vertical waU of the skull, which is the boundary above 
of a strong horizontal crest, situated upon the superior semi- 
circular line. These successive modifications of posture are oblique 
as compared with those of the biped, or, properly speaking, 
quadrupedal. The more the foramen is carried backwards, the 
more the equilibrium is disturbed, and the more the weight of the 
anterior part increases to the detriment of the posterior. 

It will be sufficient to measure one of the two terms ; for ex- 
ample, the inclination of the plane of the occipital foramen ; that is 
to say, the angle which it makes with a given line being taken as a 
term of comparison, to find the other, namely, the amount of dis- 
placement of the foramen. This is what was done by Daubenton, 
in 1764, by choosing the line D (see Fig. 6), passing from the 
posterior border of the occipital foramen to the inferior border of 
the orbit. The angle D A, looking forwards, thus determined 
was to 3 degrees in Man, 34 degrees in an orang-outang, 
47 degrees in a macauco, about 80 degrees in the dog, and 90 de- 
grees in the horse. But Daubenton has never mentioned how he 
measured this angle; he appeared to be satisfied with a very 
doubtful approximation, to judge by his drawings. This measure- 
ment, the first attempt at craniometry, necessarily engaged the 
attention of M. Eroca. By means of his occipital goniometer, he 



54 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. 



[Chap. iJ 



at once demonstrated that tlie prolonged plane of tlie occipita. 
foramen was elevated occasionally, in the white man, above the lind 
adopted by Daubenton, which gave an inverted or negative angleJ 
which the latter had not foreseen. M. Broca was thus led to sub 
stitute for the line of Daubenton another passing from the samJ 
point, the opisthion, to the root of the nose, and at a later period 




Fig. 6.— Tlie anterior half represents the skull intact, in order to show the inferior horde 
of the orbit ; the posterior half represents the skull open for the purpose of showing 
the occipital foramen and its two median points, anterior and posterior. O, Opisthion 
or posterior border of the occipital foramen, hidden by the centre of the dial of the 
goniometer ; B, Basion ; D, Inferior border of the orbit, or anterior terminating point 
of the line of Daubenton ; N, Nasal point preferred by M. Broca ; D' D O D', Line of 
Daubenton ; A B O A', Plane of occipital foramen prolonged both ways ; A D, Oc- 
cipital angle of Daubenton ; A C, Occipital angle of Broca ; A B E, Basilar angle of 
Broca ; K, Basilar groove ; L, Sella turcica ; I, External occipital protuberance, or 
inion ; J, Internal occipital protuberance. 



to measure a second angle by transferring the apex of the first to 
the basion. 

^ow we have three angles relating to the occipital plane. 
A first, D A, • or occipital of Daubenton, has its apex at the 
opisthion, and its sides formed by the occipital plane and by the 
opisthio-suborbital line ; a second, IT A, or occipital of Broca, has 
this same apex, and for its sides the same plane and the opisthio-nasal 
line ; and a third, ABE, or basilar of Broca, has its apex at the 



Chap; i.] 



PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. 



55 



basion, and its sides formed by the occipital plane and the basio- 
nasal line. The following table exhibits the results : 





Occipital angle 


Occipital angle 


Basilar angle of 




of Daubenton. 


of Broca. 


Broca. 


25 human series from... 


1° 5 to + 9° 3 


10° 3 to 20° 1 


14° 3 to 26° 3 


4 chimpanzees 


26° 2 


35° 5 


45° 5 


8 orangs 


31° 2 


45° 2 


55° 2 


5 gorillas 


32° 5 


44° 6 


53° 2 


9 gibbons 


31° 5 


40° 6 


51° 5 


12 pitbecians 


19°6to23°8 


33° 3 to 35° 3 


45° 6 to 49° * 



Thus the direction of the occipital foramen clianges somewhat 
abruptly in passing from Man to the anthropoid apes, and forms a 
line of demarcation between them which corresponds with their 
difference of posture. Between anthropoid apes and some others of 
the monkey tribe and the strictly mammalian quadrupeds, as the 
horse or the elephant, the deviation is still greater. The plane of 
the foramen is raised backwards to 90 degrees. 

Horizontality of Vision. 
Horizontality of vision in the living subject, and of the axis 
of the orbit in the skeleton, depends more exclusively still on 
the upright posture. M. Broca, to whose labours we shall have so 
frequently to refer, is now prosecuting this subject. 

Alveolo-condylean Plane. 
Of all the lines, or planes, used in craniometry, the most convenient, 
and, at the same time, the most physiological, is the alveolo-condy- 
lean plane, determined by three readily accessible points, viz. the 
alveolar, or middle point of the superior alveolar arch, and the most 
sloping points of the inferior surface of the occipital condyles. It 
is represented in Fig. 5 by the line A P Q, and in Fig. 7 by the 
line C C. It is in relation to this alveolo-condylean plane, wliich 
is also called the natural plane of the base of the skull, that IsL 
Broca measures the degree of inclination or of straight direction of 
vision, or, rather, of the plane passing through the two orbital axes. 

* We refer to the memoir of M. Broca, " Sur les Angles Occipitaux," 
" Eevue d'Antbropologie," vol, ii. p. 193, for the second decimals. More- 
over, we purpose in this volume confining ourselves generally to the first. 



56 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. 



[Chap. i. 



The dihedral angle which they form by being prolonged is | 
called positive, or ordinary, when the plane of vision is raised, and 
the meeting of the two takes place backward ; and negative, when 




Fig. 7. — A, Horizontal axis of tlie orbit passing through the centre of the optic foramen 
behind and through the centre of the base of the orbit in front ; C, Alveolo- 
condylean plane, or plane of Broca (see A P G, Fig. 5). The other references are 
the same as in that figure. 

it is depressed, and the meeting is in front. In the following table 
the former has no sign before it ; the latter is accompanied by the 
sign — . The second column refers to another character which will 
come afterwards. In Eig. 7, the alveolo-condylean plane, C C, is. 
parallel, as we see, to the plane of vision, A. 



43 men... 
5 gorillas 
1 orang 

4 pitliecians . 

5 cebians 

1 maki 
3 dogs 

3 rabbits 

2 horses 

1 wild boar 



Orbito-alveolo- 


Biorbital 


condylean angle. 


angle. 


- 08 


47° 47 


19° 31 


39° 04 


28° 53' 


45° 90 


15° 44 


52° 24 


7°22 


41° 59 


23° 58 


73° 72 


24° 94 


70° 51 


31° 15 


143° 43 


36° 09 


109° 19 


4r6i 


98° 94 



Chap. I.] PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. 57 

Tlius we find that the vision of Man is sensibly horizontal in 
relation to the alveolo-condylean plane, since it is not depressed 
even one degree in a mean of forty-three skulls, while it is raised in 
all the mammalia, including the anthropoid apes, from a mean of 
7 degrees in cebians to 36 in the horse, and 47 in the wild boar. 



BiGrhital Angle. 

The divergence of vision furnishes another differential character 
to which M. Broca has given his attention, in his memoir 
" Sur le Plan Horizontal de la Tete," to which we refer the reader 
for the figures. The second column above gives some of them, 
under the head of biorbital angle. It is the angle, open in front, 
which the two visual axes form between them, or, in other words, 
their degree of divergence. It varies from 40 degrees to 50 degrees 
in Man, and from 33 degrees to 62 degrees in the monkey tribe ; is 
raised to 73 degrees in the lemur, increases enormously in quad- 
rupeds, and attains 143 degrees in the rabbit. This is how Man is 
commingled with the generality of hionkeys as far as the lemurs, 
and is separated from the mass of quadrupeds. The anthropoid 
apes, however, share his lot ; like him they have their orbital axes 
a little divergent. 

Teoivporal Fossa. 

Of all the mammalia, Man has the least development of the 
muscles of the jaw, and the smallest extent of surface for insertion 
of these muscles. What a difference between his small temporal 
fossa, bounded above by a curved line, which is at times clearly 
marked, and the deep fossa of the anthropoid apes ! l^ot only does 
the whole of the lateral surface of the skull in these latter give 
insertion to the fibres of the temporal — the masticatory muscle j:>ar 
excellence — ^but also on the median line in the male there is besides 
a large elevated crest, which allows of these fibres being increased 
to any extent. The elevation, too, of the temporal line, the extent 
of its curve, and its nearness to the median line, are, in the human 
group, marks of inferiority. In certain prehistoric skulls from 
Florida, and modern ones from ]N"ew Caledonia, the two lines^ 



ii 



58 PHYSICAL CHAEACTERS. [Chap. i. 

distant normally from 8 to 10 centimetres, do not deviate but about 
3 to 4 centimetres, thus showing a marked resemblance to the femal&^; 
anthropoids. 

The condyles of the inferior maxillary, and the glenoid cavitie^ 
in which they are received, are directed transversely in the 
carnivorous mammalia, from before backwards in rodentia, and are 
flat in the herbivora. In Man they have an intermediate direction, 
thus bearing testimony to his omnivorous functions. 



Teeth. 

The teeth, divided into incisors for cutting, canines for tearing, 
and molars for grinding and triturating, show still more clearly this 
aptitude of Man. Of his immediate zoological neighbours, the 
orang and the chimpanzee resemble him the most in this respect, 
particularly in their molars ; the gorilla, on the contrary, differs 
from him, and in the arrangement of his teeth somewhat resembles 
the carnivora. 

The canines are larger in the anthropoid apes, and have a length 
and size which entitle them to be regarded as offensive weapons, 
particularly in the gorilla. Between the canines and the upper 
lateral incisors may be noticed, among adult anthropoid apes, as in 
the greater number of the monkeys next in order, a gap, called 
diastema. This is, in great part, for the reception of the inferior 
canine, while the superior canine presses between the inferior 
canine and the first premolar, and so v.'-ears itself a place mechani- 
cally. Another characteristic of the teeth of anthropoid apes is the 
projection of the anterior incisors, which is more exaggerated than 
in the lowest races of the human group. 

Man, at least the white, has vertical teeth ; the canines, as well 
as the molars and incisors, are close together and smaller. His 
small permanent molars have two tubercles, and the larger four ; in 
this respect there is no difference between him and the anthro23oids. 
There are twenty temporary and thirty-two permanent teeth, exactly 
as in the four anthropoid apes, the pithecians, and the greater 
number of the lemurs. In the cebians, a small molar is added 
on each side, which raises their total number to thirty-six. Some 



Chap. I.] PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. 59 

monkeys have a different dental formula ; tlie niacauco, for example, 
has thirty-eight. 

The progress of the eruption of the teeth in monkeys, and their 
periods of succession, are but imperfectly known. It is certain that 
the eruption is more rapid (cceteris paribus) in the anthropoid apes 
than in Man.* 

The superior alveolar arch in Man is generally in the form of 
an hyperbola with relatively short branches ; that of the three 





FiQ, S.— A, Jaw of the European ; B, Jaw of the Chimpanzee. 

principal anthropoid apes takes the form of a U with long and 
exactly parallel branches; that of the sajou and the macaque is 
elliptical. — (Broca). Other characters have been given as peculiar 
to Man j for example : 

* See " L'Homme et les Singes Anthropomorplies," by M. Magitot, in 
^' Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 2nd series, vol. iv. p. 113. Paris. 



60 PHYSICAL CHAEACTEES. [Chap, i 

The presence of a chin — that is to say, of a small trianguleJ 
surface, more or less projecting above the inferior border of the ja^ 
But this character has lost its value since its absence has beei 
noticed in a certain number of human specimens, among them the 
prehistoric jaw of the I^aulette, and some contemporaneous ones 
represented by MM. Quatrefages and Hamy. 

The existence of the tubercles geni, on the posterior surface of 
the inferior maxillary bone, which are replaced by a depression in 
monkeys. But exceptions of an opposite kind are met with con- 
tinually, such as tubercles in the anthropoid apes, the depression 
on the jaw of the Naulette, &c. 

The presence of a nasal spine. But some monkeys have one, 
whilst in many negroes it is so slight as to be almost invisible. 



Different Cranial Characters. 

The articulation of the greater wing of the sphenoid directly 
with the parietal. — [Given). But in a great many specimens of 
different races, especially the inferior ones, a bridge formed by the 
union of the temporal and frontal is interposed between the two 
preceding bones. M. Broca describes the first of these arrange- 
ments as usual in Man, under the name of pterion en H (see D, 
Fig. 2), and the second as usual in monkeys, under the names of 
2^terion retourne, when the temporal and sphenoid are largely united, 
and of jpterion en K when they only touch each other. 

The size of the mastoid processes. This is a result of the 
development of the sterno-mastoid muscles which are attached to 
them, and have relation to the biped posture. 

There is no new cranial or facial character, however strongly 
marked, which can be drawn as a line of demarcation between Man 
and animals, but numerous cases will arise to efface or to weaken 
it. In the head, the transition to the anthropoid apes would be 
inappreciable, but for the five following characters of Man : 
(1) The increase of volume of his cranial cavity ; (2) The rela- 
tively inverse diminution of the face ; (3) The increase of the 
facial angle which arises from it ; (4) The situation of the occipital 
foramen below, and at the centre of the base of the skull, and the 



Chap, ii.] VEETEBRAL COLUMN. 61 

horizontality of the two orbital axes, both dependent on the biped 
posture. But the first is of such pre-eminent importance that we 
would sum up by saying : The head of Man is only distinguishable 
from the head of animals by a single important character — the 
capacity of the brain-case. 



CHAPTEE II. 

VERTEBRAL COLUMN SACRUM PELVIS THORAX STERNUM 

PARALLEL BETWEEN THE SUPERIOR AND INFERIOR EXTREMITIES 
THE HAND AND FOOT PROPORTIONS OF THE SKELETON. 

Vertebral Column. 
The cervical region, which is in continuation with the head, does 
not materially differ in the mammalian series, except in the height 
of the vertebrae as before stated. M. Broca has, however, described 
certain variations in it. The spinous processes, bifurcated in Man, 
are simple in the -anthropoid apes and in monkeys ; but in some 
human skeletons of an inferior race they have been found simple ; 
and in the chimpanzee two of them are bifurcated, which establishes 
a transitional link between them. In the second place, the anthro- 
poid apes and Man have the superior siu'face of each vertebra 
bounded by two projections, which are wanting in the inferior 
monkeys, whilst they have no little appendix with transverse 
processes, as in the lemurs and carnivora. Their types, in con- 
sequence, have been disarranged by being separated from that of 
the next zoological groups. 

Conditions of the EquUihriuin of the Trunk. 

The differences which the dorso-lumbar region presents are very 
characteristic. Normally composed in Man of twelve dorsal 
vertebrae and of five lumbar, it has sometimes thirteen dorsal and 
only four lumbar, as in the gorilla and chimpanzee. There is not, 



62 EQUILIBRIUM OF THE TRUNK. [Chap. ii. 

therefore, any very serious difference in this respect between these 
two and ourselves. The orang, on the contrary, loses one lumbar 
vertebra, and the gibbon gains one dorsal, Avhich brings up the 
total number of dorso-lumbars to sixteen in the one and eighteen 
in the other. In the pithecians generally, and in most of the 
cebians, there are nineteen, there being more lumbar in the former 
and more dorsal in the latter. In lemurs there is an increase in 
both regions, but especially in the lumbar. The slender loris has 
altogether twenty-three or twenty-four dorso-lumbar vertebra. 

The dorso-lumbar region presents other differences much more 
important, which have relation to the three kinds of posture or 
attitude of mammalia — the vertical, the oblique, and the horizontal. 

The human head is in natural equilibrium on the spine — well 
and good ; but the weight of the viscera contained in the thoracic 
and abdominal cavities tends to throw the whole trunk forward. 
To counteract this, two anatomical arrangements come in. Elastic 
ligaments, called yellow, are interposed between the vertebral 
laminas, and, by virtue of their structure, keep the body erect 
without fatigue. A number of ligaments and muscles, almost 
always more or less fixed at a right angle — that is to say, under 
the most favourable incidences, at the extremity of the spinous 
and transverse processes throughout the entire length of the column 
' — conduce to the same end. In the second place, the vertebral 
column presents three alternative curvatures, which tend to preserve 
the line of gravity of the head and trunk in the axis of sustentation 
passing through the pelvis. By the first of these curvatures, the 
cervical, whose convexity looks forwards, the weight of the head 
is brought backwards ; the second, or dorsal, being directed the 
reverse way, brings the centre of gravity forwards ; while the third, 
or lumbar, with an anterior convexity, serves the purpose of keeping 
the whole column erect. 

In quadrupeds, on the contrary, there are only two curvatures, 
the one cervical, as in Man, the other dorso-lumbar, with the con- 
vexity looking backwards, like the dorsal region in Man — or rather 
looking upwards."' It follows that, if by any contrivance one 

* It is well to remark tliat in the vertical posture of Man, the postei-ior 
part of the column, and of the whole trnnk, looks backwards, and the 



Chap, ii.] CURVATURES OF THE VERTEBRAL COLUMN. 63 

compelled the individual to stand uprigh.t, the line of gravity 
would be forcibly brought forwards, and the weight of the viscera 
would come to lean against the anterior wall of the thorax, or the 
inferior wall of the abdomen. 

CurvaUires of the Vertebral Colurim. 

Monkeys, in this respect, are divided into two groups : the 
pithecians, the cebians, and the lemurs, which have the dorso- 
lumbar curvature only, conformably with their quadrupedal attitude ; 
and the anthropoids, which appear under various aspects, more 
approaching, however, the human arrangement. Many gibbons 
have three very marked curvatures. In the chimpanzee, the lumbar 
curvature, distinctive of the human group, is only over the last two 
vertebrce, and in the orang, over the last. The gorilla, with his 
straight lumbar column, is farthest removed from Man, without, 
however, presenting the absolute organisation of the quadruped. 

The division of the trunk and of the vertebral column in 
mammalia in general into two series — the one anterior, the other 
posterior — and the absence of all distinction of this kind in Man, 
is more characteristic. Let us explain this, according to the views 
of M. Broca. 

A muscle is a fleshy mass, elongated, and more or less attached 
at its two extremities, which approach each other when the muscle 
contracts under the influence of the will. The more movable 
extremity is displaced, drawing along with it the lever to which 
it is attached, whilst the other, rendered immovable by other 
muscles, remains stationary. In any movement,' then, we must 
consider the action of a whole system of muscles, and not of one 
only. 

In Man, the muscles which indirectly contribute to locomotion, 

anterior part forwards ; whilst in tlie horizontal posture of quadrupeds, the 
former looks upwards and the latter downwards. In the same way the 
upper extremities of Man become anterior in quadrupeds, and the lower 
posterior. The anthropoid apes passing continually from one posture to 
the other, both orders of arrangement can be applied to them. 

"L'Ordre des Primates: Parallele Anatomique de THomme et des 
Singes," by M. Broca, " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 2nd series, vol. iv. p. 228, 1869. 



«4 ANTEVEESION AND KETROVEESION. [Chap. ii. 

Iby fixing tlie pelvis and the successive portions of the vertebral 
column wliicli furnish the point dJappui, are attached to the 
spinous and transverse processes of the vertebrae, and tend through- 
out their whole length to draw or bend them downwards in a direct 
ratio to the limited mobility of the whole column. The dorsal 
processes yield considerably, are bent down and imbricated ; those 
of the lumbar yield less. 

In quadrupeds the traction of the process is exerted, on the 
contrary, in the direction of the anterior extremity in the lumbar 
vertebrae, and of the posterior in the dorsal. These processes are 
inclined, then, in a contrary direction — the lumbar upwards and 
the dorsal downwards. The spot where the change of direction 
takes place establishes the division between the anterior and the 
posterior . series. It is situated in the carnaria, between the last 
dorsal vertebra but one — which is attached to the thorax by a costal 
cartilage — and the last, which only supports one of the floating 
ribs. The spinous process of the one is inclined upwards, that of 
the other downwards, and it is there that the two series become 
independent. 

Anteversion and Retroversion. 

Thus, by the appearance alone of a vertebral column, we recognise 
the habitual attitude of the individual. In Man, the processes are 
all oblique below, or in retroversion ; he has but one series. In 
quadrupeds, the dorsal processes are descending, excej)t the last, 
and the lumbars ascending, or in anteversion; they have two 
series. 

All the monkeys proper are in the latter category, generally in a 
very marked way in lemurs, less in cebians, less still in the higher 
species — the pithecians. " The scene suddenly changes as regards 
the anthropoid apes. All the characters indicating the func- 
tional separation of the series in front, and of that behind, have 
completely disappeared. The dorsal spinous processes, by their 
length, their great obliquity, and their imbrication, approximate to 
the human type much more than to that of the pithecians and other 
apes ; those of the false dorsal are obliquely inclined towards the 



Chap. II.] STYLOID PROCESSES OF THE VERTEBRA. 65 

pelvis, as in Man; and those of the limibar have not the least 
tendency to anteversion ; far from it, for often they are rather 
inclined towards the pelvis." — (Broca). 

In the semnopithecus (Fig. 9), belonging to the family of 
pithecians, are represented the single dorso-lumbar curvature, with 
its convexity looking upwards ; the retroversion of the spinous 
processes of the dorsal vertebrae (except the last two), the ante- 
version of the lumbars, and the scarcely visible processes of the 




Fig. 9. — Skeleton of Semiiopitliecus Entellus, one of the Pithecians. 



last two dorsal, answering to the separation of the trunk into two 
series — the one anterior, the other posterior. 



Styloid Processes of Vertehne. 

The consolidation of each series into one compact whole is 
the last distinctive character of quadrupeds. The ribs and the 
sternum are the intermediary of this consolidation in the anterior 
series, which is a reason for the last dorsal with an independent 

F 



66 SACRUM. [Chap. ii. 

rib being excluded from it. A special system of processes, called 
styloid, detached from the lumbar vertebrae, and wliicli does not 
exist in Man, nor in the anthropoid apes, has the same design in 
the posterior series. 

Sacrum and Coccyx. 

The mode of termination of the vertebral column — below in 
bipeds, behind in quadrupeds: — has been the object of careful studj^ 
by M. Broca. According to him, the vertebrse which are articulated 
with the coccyx form the true sacrum, while all the remainder 
appertain to the tail, which is divided into two segments ; the one 
basic, formed of true caudal vertebrae, in which the spinal canal 
remains; the other terminal, formed of false caudal vertebrae — 
that is to say, with their bodies reduced in size. 

All the inferior monkeys, with but few exceptions, have a sacrum 
of three vertebrae, all articulating at the sides with the ilium — that 
is to say, true sacral vertebrae. The tail, which forms the termi- 
nation, is composed of five true and twelve false caudal vertebrae' 
in the macaque ; of seven true and twenty-two or more false in 
the ateles paniscus ; of five to seven true, and twenty-four to 
twenty-six false, in the cynocephali generally; of five true and 
four false in the lori, &c. 

In the so-called tailless monkeys, the sacrum is formed, as in 
those above mentioned, of three anchylosed vertebrae ; but the 
remainder is either reduced in size in each of its two kinds of 
vertebrae — as in the cynocephalus ni^er, which is reduced to three 
true and three false caudals ; or more or less atrophied from the 
extremity to the base, as in the magot, which has no trace of false 
caudals, and has from one to four true. 

In Man the type is altogether different. His sacrum is composed 
of two parts, the one consisting of three vertebrae, as in the monkeys- 
mentioned above, which articulate with the ilium and constitute the 
sacrum necessaire ; the other of two or three vertebrae, free at their 
external borders and having a spinal groove, and which represent 
a sacrum su])plementaire, anchylosed with the former. The coccyx 
consists of four or five vertebrae — all false. Man, then, has a tail 



Chap, ii.] PELVIS. 67 

formed of six or eight pieces, the first being at the basic segment 
and the last at the terminal segment, as in mammalia generally. 
The justice of this interpretation is confirmed by studying the 
extremity of the vertebral column in the foetus. 

To what type do the anthropoid apes approximate 1 "In all, 
the true caudal vertebrae are anchylosed with the sacrum, as in 
jNIan^ and the coccyx is composed of false vertebrae only, similar 
to those of the coccyx of Man — that is to say, more developed in 
width than in height^ and flattened from before backwards." — 
(Br oca). The supplementary sacrum of Man is formed, ioiu times 
out of six, of tliree vertebrae, instead of two ; and that of the 
anthropoid ape varies from two to four. Ought we to look upon 
this as a difi'erence ? Other morphological variations in the coccyx, 
of less importance, equally present themselves in both. 

In a word, Man and the higher apes resemble each other in the 
conformation of the tail, at the same time that they differ in this 
respect from monkeys proper. 

TliG Pelvis. 

The pelvis exhibits considerable differences between Man and 
quadrupeds, which arise from their different attitude. It is 
formed of two halves which originally consisted of three distinct 
bones — the ilium, the ischium, and the pubis, at the junction of 
which, externally, is the cotyloid cavity (c, Fig. 10). It is divided 
by a circular crest, called the superior brim, into two portions, termed 
the greater and lesser pelvis. The foetus lies, and is matured, in 
the former, and passes into the latter a short time previous to 
birth. 

In Man, the iliac bones are expanded, laterally, into two great 
wings, thin in the centre, and concave — admirably constructed to 
support the mass of the viscera, and in the female the weight of 
the foetus. Their external surface, or external iliac fossa, is, in 
consequence, convex, to give insertion to the muscles of the buttock 
In quadrupeds, on the contrary, the iliac bones are closer together, 
are elongated on each side of the lumbar portion of the column, and 

F 2 



PELVIS. 



[Chap. ii. 



convex on their internal surface, the external becoming inversely 
concave. 

The iliac bones in Man therefore have somewhat the form of valves, 
which are composed of flat bones. They rapidly become long and 
tapering, on the contrary, in quadrupeds, as in the equidse, the hare, 
and the kangaroo, and are converted, as it were, into long bones. 
Between these two arrangements are seen all kinds of interinediary 
ones. 

The measurements which we have made upon two hundred and 




d c 



Fig. 10. — Tlie pelvis in Man : a, Portion of the base of the sacrum, which is articulated 
with the last lumbar vertebra 6, Iliac crest, or superior border of the ilium ; 
c. Cotyloid cavity, in which is received the head of the femur ; d, Symphysis pubis, 
or articulation of the two bones of the pubis ; e, Point where the ischium, which is 
to the outside, is united to the pubis, which is to the inside. 

seven different pelves, serve to throw light upon this subject, and 
may be thus summed up : * 

The maximum length, taken from the point of the ischium 
to the farthest point of the iliac crest, exceeds the maximum 
breadth taken from one iliac crest to the other in 23 per cent, 
of the ruminants examined, thirty-two of the carnivora, thirty- 

* " Sur les Proportions Generales chez rHomme et les Mammiferes," by 
Paul Topinard, in " Ball. See. d'Anthrop.," 2nd series, vol. x., 1875. 



Chap, ii.] THOEAX. 69 

tlu?ee of the rodentia, thirty-seven of the niarsnpialia, and thirty- 
eight of the edentata. It is the reverse in Man — the breadth is as 
28 "77 per cent, to the length. The anthropoids vary, bnt they 
come nearer to Man than to quadrupeds. The gibbons, like the 
other monkeys, have still the length greater than the breadth. 
In chimpanzees, the two are nearly equal. The gorillas and orangs 
are very nearly allied to Man. The breadth exceeds the length 
in 24 per cent, in the former, and in 16-50 in the latter. For 
certain physiological reasons peculiar to their group, the elephants 
and the mastodons have the pelvis of similar conformation to that 
of Man. 

Consequently the sacrum of quadrupeds is straight, elongated, 
a little hollow on its internal surface, and is in contrast with 
that of Man, which is v/ide at the base, thick, conical, and curved 
at the point. The sacrum of anthropoid apes holds a middle 
position, and frequently resembles that of some of the inferior 
races of Man, as the Hottentot, dissected by Jeffries Wyman, or 
the Bosjeswoman, by Cuvier. 

At the same time that the human pelvis becomes wider and 
diminishes in height, its antero-posterior diameter becomes shortened, 
relatively to that of the anthropoid ape and other mammalia. The 
promontory — that is to say, the projecting angle in front which 
the curve of the loins makes with the curve of the sacrum, is, on 
the other hand, stronger, in accordance with the requirements of the 
biped attitude. We may add that the tuberosities of the ischium 
are shorter, less widely separated, and less marked than in the 
anthropoid, and that the symphysis pubis is shorter. 

That which we remark in the pelvis may also be found at the 
other extremity of the trunk. 

The Thorax. 

The thorax, in Man, is more developed transversely; that of 
quadrupeds, on the contrary, is more so from before backwards, or 
from the sternum to the spine. The arms in the former have to 
move in all directions, and especially outwardly, and to this end 



ii 



70 STERNUM. [Chap. iiJ 

are kept wide apart by the arches, which are the clavicles. In the 
quadrupeds proper, they only serve for locomotion, fall in a parallel 
way downwards, and remain apart. Thus the clavicle disappears" T 
and the thorax becomes flattened sideways. Monkeys, in this 
respect, hold an inferior position to quadrupeds, a superior one to 
Man. The lemurians, the cebians, and the pithecians have the 
thorax compressed laterally, the anthropoid apes rather from befort 
backwards. 

The volume of the chest could not furnish any special characteil 
Its development is enormous in the three great anthropoid apea 
Whilst the circumference was about ninety-four centimetres in 
a thousand and eighty Englishmen measured by Mr. Hutchinson, 




Fig. 11. — Anterior portion of the sternum in Man : St, Sternum, siiowing the thre 
divisions— the upper or handle, the middle or body, and the lower or xiphoid 
appendix ; R, Ribs ; R', Costal cartilages. 

it attained one hundred and fifty-seven in an immense gorilla 
measured by Du Chaillu. 



The Sternum. 



II 



The sternum in the same way, while broad and flat in Man. 
narrow and developed antero-posteriorly, or rather from below up- 
wards, in quadrupeds. In this respect the anthropoid apes come 
nearer to Man. 

The sternum is composed, speaking philosophically, of seven 
portions, corresponding to the seven ribs which are directly articu- 
lated with it, and of a xiphoid appendix. These are distinctly 
seen in the foetus, but at birth are reduced to two — exclusive of the 



'Chap. II.] THE HAND AND FOOT. 71 

appendix — namely, the handle and the body, the latter heing 
formed by the anchylosis of the six lower portions. The handle, or 
upper separated portion, exists in all the mammalia with clavicles ; 
the appendix also. The body is entire in Man; in the greater 
number of the monkeys proper it is composed of six distinct parts ; 
in one of the anthropoids, the gibbon, it is entire, as in Man, and 
in the other three it is divided into three or four. Thus we see 
that in this respect the anthropoid apes, and notably the magot, are 
between Man and the pithecians. 

The extremities, four in number in the majority of mammalia, 
are reduced to two, the anterior, in the whale and the porpoise. 
Their terminal segment bears the name of foot or hand, a denomina- 
'tion upon which Blumenbach and Cuvier based their division of 
i;he order of Primates of Linnaeus into Bimana, comprehending 
Man, and Quadrumana, embracing the monkey tribe, a name which 
Tyson had given them in 1699. 

Tlie Hand and Foot. 

What then as to the hand and foot, and especially the hand % 
Cuvier says that which constitutes the hand is the faculty of 
opposing the thumb to the other fingers for the purpose of taking 
hold of the smallest objects. Agassiz terms the hand, "a limb 
having a certain number of fingers bending one way, another finger 
being opposed to them." He defines a foot as, " a limb terminated 
by digits all on the same level, and all having the same direction." 

The hand is recognised, according to Huxley, by the disposition 
of the bones of the carpus and of the metacarpus -, the foot by the 
presence of short flexor muscles, a short extensor of the digital 
appendices, and a long peroneal. All these definitions look only 
to one side of the question. M. de La Palisse's maxim is that it 
as their use which distinguishes the foot from the hand. 

The Foot 

M. Broca, with greater breadth of view, says : " A foot is an 
■^extremity Avhich serves chiefly for standing or walking ; a hand is 



72 THE FOOT. [Chap, ii 

an extremity wliich serves principally for prehension and toncliJ 
We might add that the fin is an extremity which serves principally 
for natation, &c. The hand is perfect when it answers the end foi 
which it was exclusively intended. The foot is perfect when i 
is only constructed for walking, Both are imperfect when the^ 
encroach on the functions which do not specially belong to them 
An anterior extremity may lose all its functions of prehension, and 
it would be only a foot. Various physiological variations, and oi 
different degrees, are noticed in the mammalian series. 

But if the sole of the foot bears directly on the ground, or if th< 
palm of the hand grasps objects, the whole extremity is, in reality, 
applied to its general function, all its parts are made conformable 
to the purposes for which it was designed. It is not, then, th( 
foot or the hand only, but the extremity as a whole, which we niusi 
examine to discover its function of prehension or locomotion. This 
has been already done by M. Broca. 

The anatomical conditions, which secure to the inferior extremity 
its function of locomotion, "may be reduced," says M. Broca, "to 
three: (1) The root of the extremity — that is to'say, the head oi 
the femur,* should be received into a deep hemispherical cavity, 
looking downwards and outwards, which allows the limb to move 
freely from before backwards, and from behind forwards, to 
execute the two movements of, progression, whilst the other move^ 
ments, and, in particular, adduction, are very limited ; (2) The two 
bones of the leg should be immovable the one on the other, and mor 
or less united together as a single bone, in order to bear the weight 
of the body, and so that the foot may not turn ; (3) The articula^ 
tions immediately^above the part touching the ground should only 
allow two movements — those of flexion and extension — and should 
be bent at a more or less right angle, in order to present to th 
ground a fiat surface, formed at the expense of the posterior surface 
of the extremity, now become inferior." 

Man, who exclusively rests on his two feet, realises all these 
conditions in the highest degree. His femur, retained in the 

"•'■ We refer the reader to page 30 and following for the anatomical expres- 
sions employed here, and elsewhere, with respect to the skeleton. 



Chap. ii.J 



THE FOOT. 



73 



cotyloid cavity by a virtual vacuum, is moved as a balance in two 
directions. The articulations of his knee and instep are hinge-like. 
His tibia and fibula are immovable, and fall perpendicularly on the 




A. 



B. 



Fig. 12. — A., Skeleton of th.e liand, the forearm as in supination (the radius outside, on 
the side of the thumb, the ulna inside) , and a part of the humerus of the gorilla. 
B, Skeleton of the foot, leg (fibula outside, tibia inside), and part of tha femur of 
the gorilla. 



crown of an elastic arch, which rests on the ground by the cal- 
caneum behind and the metatarsus in front. 

In the majority of mammalia, these arrangements are identical. 



74 THE HAND. [Chap. ii. 

or analogous. Whether the constituent cokimns of the foot amounfe 
to four, three, or two; whether the individual bears on his 
phalanges, his metatarsus, or the entire sole of the foot, they are 
always adapted for walking and for support. 

The cheiroptera, which make use of their foot as a hook, and 
perhaps kangaroos, which are ahle to grasp in a slight degree, are 
the only animals having free movement of the two bones of the 
leg one upon the other. We shall speak of the monkey tribe 
presently. 

The Hand. 

The indispensable qualities for the regular performance of acts 
of prehension and touch, of which the upper extremity of Man 
offers the best example, are also three in number, 

(1) The articulation of the humerus with the scapula, or scapulo- 
humeral, should be movable in two directions, in order to allow 
the arm and hand play in every direction. Circumduction and 
adduction, if limited in the femur, are not neglected here. The 
presence of the clavicle, by widening the shoulders, favours the 
latter ; the glenoid cavity is small, ovoid, and looks outwards ; the 
axis of the humeral head lies perpendicularly. These last two 
features are sufficient of themselves, in doubtful cases, to enable one 
to recognise the character of the upper extremities. We are now 
about to show this. 

The arm is a thigh turned round, says Professor Ch. Martins.* 
The articular line of the knee and that of the elbow are both 
transverse, but while the flexion of the knee takes j)lace backwards, 
that of ■ the elbow is forwards ; the patella and olecranon, which 
are analogues, occupy inverse positions. In reptiles the two 
extremities are, on the contrary, symmetrical ; and, as M. Durand 
(de Gros) says, isomerous, flexion being exerted in the same direc- 
tion. How is this difference in mammalia to be explained ? In a 
very simple way. The part of the arm which is above the middle 
third has undergone, in the former, a twisting from behind for- 

* " Nouvelle Comparaison des Membres Pelviens et Thoracicjues," bv 
Cb. Martins, in " Mem. Acad, de Montpellier," 1857. 



Chap, ii.] 



THE HAND. 



75 



wards, and from within outwards, as if the bone had been turnedround. 
Proofs of this are visible upon the humerus in the shape of a 
groove of torsion. This is why the thumb, which is inwards in 
the foot, has become outwards in the hand. But this twisting, or 
rotation, has not the same extent in bipeds and quadrupeds, or 
rather in the humeri of the limbs, whether designed for prehension 
•or for locomotion. 




Fig. 13.— Skeleton of the forearm : A, In supination ; B, In pronation ; H, Humerus ; 
R, Radius ; U, Ulna. 



In the former case it is about 180 degrees, in the latter about 
90 degrees. Moreover, in bipeds, as in quadrupeds, the forearm 
is bent upon the arm in a similar way relatively to the body. It is 
because the glenoid cavity of the scapula describes, in the latter, 
a complementary arc of a circle, equally from behind forwards and 
from without inwards, that so much of it is spared for the 
humerus ; consequently it looks forwards relatively to the axis of 
the body in these, and downwards in quadrupeds. The 90 
degrees for the humerus and the 90 for the glenoid cavity, thus 



76 THE HAND AND FOOT. [Chap, m 

give the, 180 degrees which, make of the arm a " tliigh turned 
round." The degree of rotation varies sometimes in both, and the 
part which the humerus takes in it is measured by the angle 
which the vertical plane of its head makes with the vertical and 
transverse plane of its inferior extremity. 

Thus an angle of torsion of the humerus of 180 degrees, and 
glenoid cavity looking outwards, are the characters which the 
scapulo-humeral articulation exhibits in the extremities destined 
principally for prehension. A similar angle of 90 degrees, and 
glenoid cavity looking downwards,"^' are, on the contrary, the 
characteristic of the function of locomotion. If the cavity, in this 
case, had looked outwards, the head of the humerus, instead ol 
resting upon it, would be driven back against the articular capsule, 
which by the least shock would be ruptured. 

(2) The radius should turn freely over the ulna, so that the 
hand, placed in pronation at its extremity, can be put in supination 
and lay hold of objects readily. Fig. 13 shows the differenci 
between these two positions of the arm. This rotation in Man li 
about 180 degrees. 

(3) The hand should be situated upon the prolonged axis of tlid 
forearm, the carpus being articulated Avith the radius in such a wa;^ 
as to have every kind of movement, and especially the most comJ 
plete flexion and extension. Everything which adds to the mobilitj^ 
of the phalanges, and facilitates especially the opposition of the! 
thumb to the other fingers, is favourable to this end. 

Thus mobility of the member in ^11 its parts is that which 
characterises the hand, sohdity that which marks the foot. The 
details of configuration is only a question of relative perfection in 
either case. 

Hand and Foot. 

The anterior extremities of Man exhibit aU the attributes above 
mentioned, which go to make up a perfect organ of prehension. 
Those of the carnivora and pachydermata differ from them entirely, 

■* Downwards, because we are- thinking of quadrupeds ; but if we suppose 
tlie trunk vertical, it is forwards. 



Chap, ii.] THE HAND AND FOOT. 77 

and are adapted in all their parts for locomotion. We find all 
terrestrial mammalia inclining towards one or other of these two 
types. In the kangaroo, the movement of pronation and supina- 
tion, the axis of his hand being in continuation with that of the 
forearm, the conformation of his five digits, everything, except that 
the glenoid cavity looks forward, '^^ goes to show that his anterior 
extremity is formed for prehension. In the dog, the anterior 
extremity, on the contrary, is better adapted for progression, and, 
therefore, the two bones of his forearm move one upon the other. 
It is scarcely necessary to enumerate the many rodentia, carnivora, 
and edentata which employ their front paws as hands to seize their 
prey, to carry it to the mouth, to burrow in the ground, to caress 
their young, to. carry them, &c. 

In the common monkeys the anterior extremities hang loosely at 
the sides of the body ; their angle of humeral torsion is that 
of quadrupeds. In the lemurs, the ouistiti, the atele, and the 
sapajou it is as high as 95 or 100 degrees; in the magot, 105 
degrees; in the semnopithecus, 110 degrees. The amount of rota- 
tion of the radius is variable ; in some cebians and pithecians it 
does not exceed 90 degrees ; in the mone it attains to 100 degrees. 
When the common monkeys use the hand as a foot, it is held at an 
angle more or less approaching a right angle, and leans on the 
ground by the whole palmar surface, with the digits extended ; it 
has then all the character of a foot. But if they use it for seizing 
objects, or the limb is left to itself, as in the dead body, the axis 
of the hand is continued in a straight line with that of the forearm. 
It is, then, to all intents and purposes, a hand. 

With regard to their posterior extremity, it possesses all the 
characters which render it adapted for locomotion ; its terminal 
extremity is set at a right angle, and rests on the ground by the 
whole plantar surface. The digits are nevertheless longer, and the 
thumb more loosely attached and more spreading, than in Man ; 
the thumb is not opposed to the other digits, as we have said, but 
by its span it plays the part of one leg of a cramp-iron or pincers, 

* We say forwards because the kangaroo holds himself most freqaently 
in the standing position. 



1^1 



78 THE HAND AND FOOT. [Chap. ii. 

the four other digits forming the other leg. It is by this means 
that monkeys hang on to the boughs of trees as well by their feet 
as by their hands. In a word, the common monkeys have feet 
behind and hands in front, but they employ them subordinately, 
the former for climbing and the latter for walking. Properly 
speaking they neither belong to quadrupeds nor to the quadruj 
mana. 

In anthropoid apes all the characters proper to the organ 
prehension are developed in the same degree as in Man : there is 
the same independence of the limb — greater in the gibbon perhaps ;, 
the humeral angle of torsion is about 150 degrees, whilst that of 
the negro is 154 degrees, and that of the white man 168 degrees,, 
according to M. Gegenbaur; the movement of pronation and of 
supination of the radius is from 140 to 180 degrees, whilst that of 
Man is 180 degrees ; the axis of the hand is in continuation of that 
of the forearm ; the power of extension, that is to say, the move- 
ment which would, when required, make it serve for a foot, is less 
than in Man ; the configuration of the bones of the hand is 
identical with that of Man, except that the orang and some gibbons 
have an additional bone in the carpus, called the intermedium^ 
and that the thumb has greater span in the gorilla, and is some- 
what atrophied in the orang, and perhaps in the chimpanzee. As 
to the inferior extremity, the resemblance to that of Man is still 
more close, except that the orang has the great toe much smaller, 
and much more behind. In fine, the gorilla most nearly approaches 
to Man in the shape of his hand and foot, while the chimpanzee 
comes next. 

The anthropoid ape seizes the smallest objects with the thumb 
and fingers of his hand, which he opposes perfectly. In the foot 
the opposition is nil — it is not greater than that of Chinese 
oarsmen, Nubian horsemen, or painters without arms, who lay 
hold by bending the toes all together, or by making the second toe 
act as a thumb. His thumb and digits can only clasp the two sides 
of a bough, like the two legs of a cramp-iron, in the act of climbing. 
His ordinary method of progression is in an oblique direction, the 
legs close together, the arms extended and somewhat separated 



Chap, ii.] THE HAND AND FOOT. 79- 

when making a step ; the forearms in pronation, and the hands 
closed, resting altogether upon the inner border and the dorsal 
surface of the phalanges. The orangs which we have had an 
opportunity of seeing, walked with the toes turned under, and with 
the external border of the foot resting on the ground. It seems, 
nevertheless, that other anthropoids sometimes rest on the entire 
flat surface of the sole of the foot, and that they keep the toes 
extended. With regard to the erect position, the anthropoid ape 
assumes it frequently, but only by accident. Thus we have seen 
gibbons run along in the upright position, the arms elevated above 
the head, and thrown backwards, evidently in order to place their 
centre of gravity in a more favourable position. The gorilla 
generally runs away from Man, but if he suddenly finds himself in 
his presence, or has to cover the retreat of the female, he faces his 
enemy with the greatest bravery, holds up his head, strikes his 
chest, and comes forward in an upright position with the head 
erect. The chimpanzee frequently straightens himself in the same 
manner. The orang is so apathetic that he almost always walks 
along crawling. 

In a word, the anthropoid ape is a biped, but he possesses an 
arrangement of the feet which allows him to walk upon the 
branches of trees. He is bimanous, but he has the assistance of 
his hands in walking, as we ourselves should have if, with longer 
arms, we wished to imitate him. His attitude in progression is 
more nearly the vertical than the horizontal, and is sometimes that 
of Man and sometimes that of quadrupeds. 

To return to terrestrial mammalia. Their posterior extremities 
are always adapted for progression, the anterior sometimes 'for pre- 
hension, sometimes for progression, frequently for both. The four 
extremities should, in the main, be simply for support. The more 
or less perfect adaptation of the anterior to the act of touch and 
prehension is a characteristic of gradual development, and if one 
must establish a graduated scale in reference to this matter, the 
series would succeed each other as follows : the pachydermata and 
ruminantia, carnivora in general, kangaroos, ordinary monkeys, 
anthropoid apes, Man. 



80 STATURE. [Chap. ii. 

Stature. 

Having considered tlie skeleton in detail, it remains for us to 
examine it in its ensemble. Height and size in comparative 
anatomy have a secondary vahie, the largest animals go side hi 
side with the smallest in contiguous genera. Among the gibbon^ 
for example, the siamang reaches 1'16 metre; the entelloid, 8G 
centimetres. The other anthropoids come nearer to Man than that." 
The chimpanzee is about 1'30 metre; the two or three species of 
orang from 1*10 metre to 1*60 metre ; the gorilla from 1*4:0 metre 
to 1*73 metre, and more. N'ow the height of an adult man (France) 
is about 1*65 metre, and this varies in every part of the globe from 
1 *30 metre to about 2 metres. Among pithecians, the cynocephali 
are generally the tallest; the nasicus measures 1*10 metre, the 
miothecus, 30 centimetres; the cebians vary from 90 centimetres in 
the brachyuri to 20 centimetres in the ouistiti; the lemurs are 
small. So much for the approximate measurements. How can we 
compare animals, some of Avhich go on all-fours, and others in a 
semi-inclined attitude, with Man, who is perfectly erect ? 

Their general forms have more interest. Man varies so far as 
to merit the epithets tall and thin, or short and stout ; he is lean 
or fat, his neck is long or short, his abdomen draAvn in or prominent. 
In the anthropoid apes the differences are also great. The gibbon 
is slender, long in the body, and made for agility, in this respect 
approaching to the semnopitheci ; he only wants a tail to make him 
resemble them in his movements. The orang, on the contrary, is 
dull, apathetic, and squat ; he Avalks with measured steps. The 
gorilla is remarkable for his athletic figure; he is said to wrestle 
even Avith the leopard, and to have the best of it. Both the orang 
and the gorilla have monstrously prominent bellies, which belongs 
to their herbivorous or granivorous mode of feeding. The chim- 
panzee, though less muscular in his limbs, and not so stout, has, 
like the gorilla, considerable strength. Among the Gaboon species 
we would mention the koolokamba, which, to judge by his 
skeleton, ought to have slender limbs. 



Chap. II.] PEOPORTIONS OF THE SKELETON 81 

ProiDortions of the Shdeton. 

The proportions of the skeleton have also much interest. Their 
study having hitherto afforded more results in the comparison 
between man and animals than in that of races between them- 
selves, we shall speak of them here in a general way. 

Osteometry. 

Osteometry, one of the most promising branches of anthro- 
pology, and one having an intimate connection with craniometry, 
is a study which has especial reference to the measurement of the 
facial angle and the direction of the occipital foramen, matters 
already considered. Osteometry itself is only a part of what 
should be called zoometry, which has to do with animals, in con- 
tradistinction to anthropometry, which has Man for its object of 
study. Are we to seek for the proportion of the body on the 
skeleton or on the living subject % This is the cjuestion which 
governs all osteometry. 

On the living subject one has the advantage of being able to 
refer each particular measurement to a unit of comparison, as 
stature, if we are dealing only with Man, or length of trunk or of 
the vertebral column, if we extend our examination to animals. 
But in spite of the greatest skill on the part of the preparator who 
mounts the skeleton, there is always somewhat of arbitrariness in 
the mode of articulating the bones, and of replacing the inter- 
vertebral substance with discs of leather. The bones are not found 
at all in the same condition when dry and Avhen in the fresh state ; 
in the former case the cartilages are dried up, and so reduced in 
size that it is impossible to form any proper comparison between 
one skeleton and another. If we take a single articular extremity, 
the retraction of its investing cartilage is slight, but if we take the 
twelve surfaces of the entire hand, which are found between the 
tip of the fingers and the wrist, it amounts to something con- 
siderable. On the living subject, it is true, the measuring 2:toints 
are sometimes difficult to recognise, or are altogether inaccessible. 

G 



82 PROPORTION'S OF THE SKELETON. [Chap. ir. 

To take the length, of a femur, for example, as it is exhibited in 
the upright position, we place the two condyles fiat on the table, 
the bone takes its natural direction, and the length required is the 
projection comprised between the plane of the table and the plane 
which is parallel to it, passing through the highest point of its 
head. On the living subject we have no means of obtaining any- 
thing of the kind ; the head of the femur is out of view in the 
cotyloid cavity. Under these circumstances we are obliged to be 
satisfied with a different length, and we have recourse to other 
points of measurement — below, to the external side of the inter- 
articular space j above, to the point of the great trochanter, which 
is covered by a thick cushion of cellulo-adipose tissue, and the mass 
of fibrous tissue and tendons which have insertion in this tuber- 
osity, and whose consistence can scarcely be distinguished by the 
finger from the resistance of the osseous tissues. The same 
difficulties, although less in amount, are met ^vitli in the wrist, the 
elbow, and the shoulder. 

In a word, on the living subject we are enabled to make com- 
parisons of differences arising from stature, but from bad measur- 
ing points ; on the skeleton, to take perfect measurements, but to 
have no certain term of comparison. Another advantage of the 
measurements in the living subject is that they can be taken, by 
those interested in the study, in foreign countries, and upon a large 
number of individuals. 

Anatomists employ both methods. Some, taking care that the 
skeleton is properly mounted, give the particular length of each 
bone relatively to its height, or to the vertebral column. Others 
compare the bones directly together, without taking into account 
the height. For our own part we think the arbitrary mode in 
which the skeleton is mounted is exaggerated. The disposition of 
the articular processes of the vertebrae obliges the preparator to give, 
almost unconsciously, the proper thickness to the intervertebral 
discs ; his sources of error arise entirely from the drying up of the 
cartilages on the articular surface of these processes, amount- 
ing to fifty in the entire column. The skeleton of a gorilla, 
one of the tallest ever seen, mounted in America, was 1-650 



Chap, ii.] PEOPORTIONS OF THE TRUNK. 83 

metres in height ; the animal measured, immediately after death, 
1*727 metres. Four goiillas were dissected in the Laboratory of 
Anthropology, and their skeletons, which were afterwards mounted 
by M. Tramont, were less by three centimetres. 

These remarks have no reference either to the head or to the 
pelvis, whose internal proportions alone we generally study, but 
simply to the trunk, the extremities, and their segments. Let us 
now proceed to results, referring the reader to Chapter IV. of 
Part IL for a description of the usual methods of proceeding in 
taking measurements. 



Proportions of tlie Jrunlc. 



The first element of comparison which it is necessary to know, 
is the relative proportion of the trunk to the height of the body. 
The length of the trunk can only be measured on the living subject, 
but the measuring points differ. The Americans, in their measure- 
ments made on a million individuals during the War of Secession, 
chose as boundaries the spinous, or prominent process of the 
seventh cervical vertebras, and the perinseum. In their four series 
of measurements, which were taken with the greatest care, in from 
207 to 1,064 individuals, the mean length was from 362 to 394- 
thousandths of the stature. Quetelet takes from the clavicles above, 
and from the perinjeum below ; his mean is about 354-thousandths 
of the stature. In M. Seriziat's statistics, we have taken the interval 
between the biacromial line, or width of the shoulders, and the 
biischiatic line, or width of the seat| the mean was 362-thou- 
sandths. The length of the trunk in Man would then be more 
than one-third, and less than two-fifths of the stature. In the 
anthropoid apes there are less indications. In a gorilla killed by 
Du Chaillu, the distance from the seventh cervical vertebra to the 
point of the sacrum was about 440-thousandths of the stature. 
In ^I. Broca's laboratory, we have compared the length from the 
seventh" cervical vertebra to the point of the sacrum in eleven 
skeletons of men, and one of the gorilla. Its relation to the stature 
was 366 in the latter, and varied from 292 to 340-thousandths in 

G 2 



84 GEANDE ENYERGUEE. [Chap, ii, 

the former. The trunk of Man thus estimated would he shorter, 
hut only relatively/ hecause his lower extremities increase his 
height. We are precluded, from want of space, from giving here 
the proportions of the thorax, and especially its circumference in 
Man and the animal. 

Grande Enverrjure. 

The relation of the grande envergare to the stature deserves oui" 
consideration, Ey the name grande envergure we understand the 
distance from the middle finger of one hand to the middle finger of 
the other, with the arms extended at full length like a cross. This 
distance is ahout six centimetres shorter than that of the sum of the 
hiacromial diameter, and the leng-th of the two extremities, taken 
in the ordinary way, from the acromion to the middle finger^ 
hecause, in measuring the limh in an extreme state of ahduction, the 
head of the humerus is huried in the armpit, and the limh is. 
therehy shortened. The envergure exceeds the stature, in Man, 
variously from to 89 parts in the thousand. In a series of 10,876 
American soldiers it was as 1'04:3 to 1*000. In the anthropoid 
apes, especially the gibhon and the orang, it is considerably greater. 
Its relation to the height was 1*654 in a gorilla, measured im- 
mediately after death, and about 1*428 in a chimpanzee of the 
bald species. We see m a moment the enormous difference between 
these and Man. 

The proportions of the extremities have been studied by White, 
Humphry, Leharzic, Broca, Huxley, Hamy, Weisbach, Quetelet, 
and Gould, in the adult man, and in some animals. We may now 
proceed to consider them both on the living subject and on the 
skeleton, but with the drawbacks we have mentioned. The first 
method for ascertaining the dimensions of the upper extremities, 
which exhibit the greatest difference between Man and the ape, is 
the grande envergure previously alluded to. The second, still more 
simple, consists in noticing the exact point to which the extremity 
of the middle finger reaches in the position of the soldier standing 
at "attention." This extremity was separated from the upper border 
of the patella by an interval of from seven to twelve centimetres 



I 



Chap, il] PROPOETIONS OF THE EXTREMITIES. 85 

In the mean results obtained on soldiers of different races in the 
American army. According to Mr. Huxley, the hands reach the 
middle of the thigh in Man, below the knee in the chimpanzee, 
the middle of the leg in the. gorilla, the ankle-bones in the orang, 
and the ground in the gibbon. The direct measurements which 
we are about to mention are preferable. 

Frojyortions of the Extremities. 

The relation of the superior to the inferior extremities is different 
in Man and the anthropoid apes. It is easily obtained by measure- 
ments taken on the living subject, but the measuring points sadly 
vary among different observers. It is obtained still better on the 
dry bones, whose length is added, leaving out the hand and foot, 
which do not appear the same in the upright posture, the one 
•giving its long axis, and the other only its thickness. The first 
figures ye quote are those of Mr. Huxley, Avhich have no reference 
%o the stature, but to the entire vertebral column from the atlas to 
the point of the sacrum = 100. This is very useful for making the 
(Comparison with animals, and especially quadrupeds.* The two 
men are a European and a Bosjesman, the extremes of the group. 





Superior extremity- 
less the hand. 


Inferior extremity 
less the foot. 


2 men 


79 


... 113 


1 chimpanzee 


m 


... 90 


1 gorilla 


115 


... 96 


1 orang 


112 


... ■ 88 



From this it appears: (1) That the upper extremity is shorter 
and the lower longer than the vertebral column, while this is the 
reverse in the anthropoid apes, with the exception of the upper 
extremity of chimpanzees; (2) That of the two extremities, the 
upper is shorter and the lower longer in Man, whilst this is the 
reverse in anthropoids. But the cases before us are not sufficiently 
numerous, and the measurement was made upon the mounted 
skeleton. 

* " Man's Place in Nature," bj T. H. Huxley ; translated into French by 
E. Dally. Paris, 1858. 



86 PEOPOETIONS OF THE EXTEEMITIES. [Chap. ir. 

Dr. Humpliry^ has taken his measurements independently, and 
has made them bear relation, not to the column, hut to the entire 
height of the individuals examined. Of his fifty men half are 
Europeans and half negroes. His figures show the following, 
results, which exhibit the relation of the added lengths of the 
humerus and radius to the added lengths of the femur and tibia, 
the latter being taken as = 100 : 

H + R : F + T. 

50 men 68-1 

4 chimpanzees ... ... ... ... ... 103*5 

2 gorillas ... ... ... ... ... ... 117"1 

2 orangs ... ... ... ... ... ... 141'1 

The result is similar to the preceding : the anthropoid apes have 
the upper extremities longer, and the inferior extremities shorter 
than Man, but we may still raise the objection that the height 
taken on the skeleton is not exact. Then we must compare the 
absolute length of the additional bones directly with each other. 

To this end we have measured eighteen anthropoid apes, the 
largest number upon which any one observer has practised. We 
will give their measurements together with those made on Man, 
published by M. Broca.f The following table shows the relation 
of the sum of the humerus and radius to the s]im of the femur and 
tibia, the latter being taken as = 100 : 

H + R:F + T. 
30 men 68'9 

8 gorillas lOl'S 

9 chimpanzees ... ... ... ... ... 108'2 

1 orang 140'4 

The deductions are the same.' TVTiether, therefore, we compare 
the measurements in relation to the vertebral column to the height 

* "A Treatise on the Human Skeleton," hy G. M. Humphry. Cam- 
bridge, 1858. . 

f " Sur les Proportions dti Bras, de I'Avant-Bras, et de la Clavicule, chez 
les Negres et les Europeens," in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," vol. iii., 1862 ; and 
" Sur les Proportions Relatives des Membres Superieurs et des Membres 
Inferieurs chez les Negres et les Europeens," in "Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 
2nd series, vol. ii., 1867, by Paul Broca; see also the article " Membres," in 
*' Encycl. des Sciences Medicales," by M. E. Dally, Paris, 1873. 



I 



Chap, ii.] RELATION OF THE EADIUS TO THE HUMERUS. 87 

or the absolute measurements, the result is the same. The upper 
extremity, from the wrist to the shoulder, is shorter in Man, longer 
in the anthropoid ape, than the lower extremity from the instej) to 
the articulation of the hip. The respective proportions of the two 
segments which enter into the constitution of each will throw 
further light on the matter. 

Relation of the Radius to the Humerus. 

The relation of the radius to the humerus, or of the forearm to 
the arm, first received attention in 1795, by White, who thus be- 
came the founder of osteometry as applied to Man. Ey measure- 
ments made on the living subject, and on the skeleton, he proved 
that the forearm of the negro is longer than that of the white 
races. His researches, which had long passed out of notice, were 
revived by Lawrence in 1817. Mr. Humphry again took up the 
question in 1858, embraced the lower extremities in his measure- 
ments, and extended the- comparison between Man and the anthro- 
poid apes. Lastly, in 1862 and in 1867, M. Broca casually 
touched upon the subject in the two memoirs before referred to.''" 
There are more or less marked shades of difference in the relative 

i dimensions of the bones of the extremities, and before inquiring 
into them it is well to bear in mind the general fact. The radius 
is always smaller than the humerus, and the tibia smaller than the 
femur in the human skeleton. It is the same in the gorilla and 
the chimpanzee. The same may be noticed in the tibia of the 
orang, while the radius is perceptibly equal to the humerus, which 
proves that the proportions are not the same in all the anthropoids, 

■ and differ as in the human races. 

The following table gives the relative proportion of the radius to 

' the humerus, 100 being taken as the length of the latter. The first 

, column has been calculated with the measures of Mr. Humphry 

[ 

\ * References to books occupy so mtich space that we can only give the 
' more important ones. The researches of White are to be found in his 
[ memoir, p. 14 ; in Lawrence's work, p. 14 ; that of Humphry, p. 85 ; and 
that of M. Broca, p. 86. 



88 RELATION OF THE TIBIA TO THE FEMUR. [Chip. ii. 

upon tlie 50 men and the 8 anthropoid apes previously alluded 
to, and the second with those of M. Broca upon 30 men of all 
races, and with our own upon 18 anthropoid apes : 





Humphry. 


Broca and Topinard. 


Man 


... 75-1 ... 


76-1 


Gorilla ... 


... 771 ... 


79-8 


Chimpanzee 


... 90-1 ... 


... 90-3 


Orang 


... 1000 ... 


85-7 



Setting aside some differences of detail pertaining to individual 
varieties, arising from the mode of proceeding, the general results 
agree in both columns. The difference between Man and the ape is 
not great, looking at the proportion between the upper and lower 
extremity, but it is not the less certain. In questions of proportion 
a slight matter materially alters the result. The radius is shorter 
compared with the humerus in Man than in the anthropoid ape. 
As the iiumber of gorillas and chimpanzees in the two lists amounts 
to 22, the question may be regarded as settled so far as they are 
concerned. It is less so as regards the three orangs, which, taken 
together, show the relative length of the radius to be 95 '2, pre- 
suming that we regard this bone as longer than in the two other 
kinds of anthropoids. 

The relative proportion of the tibia to the femur, the latter being 
taken as = 100, is given in the following table, in the same subjects 
as in the one preceding : 





Humphry. 


Broca and Topinard. 


Man 


... 82-6 ... 


80-6 


Gorilla 


... 84-7 ... 


77-8 


Chimpanzee 


... 84-5 ... 


78-7 


Orang 


... 86-6 ... 


85-7 



I 



The results appear to contradict each other. According to those 
of Mr. Humphry, the tibia would be shorter than that of the apes. 
According to ours, looking at the greater number of gorillas and 
chimpanzees, which makes the matter still more decisive, the 
human tibia would, on the contrary, be longer, our single orang 
being left out of consideration. Some of the differences in these 



J 



€hap. II.] PROPORTIONS OF THE FOOT AND HAND. 89 

two lists are probably attributable to the method of calculating, 
M. Eroca and myself having left out the internal malleolus, and 
Mr. Humphry having probably included it. The main point is that 
each of us has proceeded in the same way in all the series. We 
admit that the second segment of the lower extremity is gene- 
rally shorter in the anthropoid ape, whilst that of the upper is 
longer. Might not tlie two conditions be explained in the same 
way '? The leg would be shortened in the ape because his lower 
extremity is less exclusively employed in progression; his fore- 
arm would be lengthened, on the contrary, because the upper 
extremity, in addition to its function of prehension, contributes to 
progression. 

The relative proportion of the humerus to the femur, the latter 
taken as = 100, has also been a subject of study. (3ur figures and 
those of Mr. Humphry represent it as follows : 





Humpliry. 


Broca and Topinard. 


Mail 


... 711 ... 


70-7 


Chimpanzee 


... 90-8 ... 


100-5 


Gorilla 


... 110-2 ... 


113-4 


Orang 


... 131-6 ... 


128-6 



With some minute shades of difference the conclusions arrived at 
are similar. The humerus is shorter in proportion to the femur in 
Man, and longer in the anthropoid apes. We may hence infer, by 
taking into consideration the greater length of the upper arm in 
the anthropoids, and the greater length also of the radius, that the 
two bones contribute, each in its degree, to the lengthening of the 
whole limb in these animals. 

Thus a long humerus, a still longer radius, a short femur, a still 
shorter tibia, such are simian characters, the more human being the 
very reverse. 

The relation of the foot and the hand to the stature, or to the rest 
of the corresponding limb, can only be examined on the living 
subject. Later on we shall give their relative lengths in the 
human races, tlic term of comparison failing us as regards the 
anthropoid apes. But, for want of a better, we shall give the 



90 VAEIOUS CHAEACTEES. [Chap. ii. 

measurements relatively to stature taken on tlie skeleton "by Mr. 
Humphry : 

Hand. Foot. 

Man 11-82 16'96 

Gorilla • ... 14-54 20-69 

Chimpanzee 18-00 21-00 

. Orang 20-83 25-00 



The foot- and the hand are thus shown to become larger as we 
pass from Man to the anthropoids, and progressively so in the three 
mentioned above. We shall say nothing of the relation of the 
clavicle to the humerus, concerning which but little has been 
recorded. 

Such are the primary results with regard to the comparative 
proportions of Man and anthropoids. Can we say anything further 
as to the near affinity of one of them to Man 1 

The question is only doubtful as between the gordla and the chim- 
panzee. In every instance recorded in our list the orang occupies 
the most remote position, except as regards the tibia in the single 
case in our list which the tAvo cases of Mr. Humphry nullify. The 
gorilla has the whole of the upper extremity, including the radius 
and the hand, more human, while in the chimpanzee the resemblance 
is only as regards the humerus and tibia. In considering only the 
two upper segments, each seems to have an advantage an its 
way, the gorilla by his shorter forearm, the chimpanzee by his 
shorter arm. The length of the upper extremity and of the hand 
have, however, the greater weight in the balance, and we should give 
it in favour of the gorilla. But in the long bones, as well as in 
the vertebral column and skull, there are characters besides the 
dimensions which as yet have been but little studied. Only to take 
one example : the greater obliquity of the femur, the greater angle 
Avhich its neck makes with the diaphysis, and the comparative 
slenderness of the entire bone give the advantage to the chimpanzee, 
and especially to the koolokamba species. It is indisputable that 
the proportions of the skeleton are very different in the four kinds 
of apes, although in theif general type there may be much similarity. 
"We Avill say more : they differ even in the species of one and the 



l! 



Chap, hi.] MUSCLES. 91 

same genus ; which it behoves iis to consider, when, during the 
prosecution of these studies, we shall have more subjects at our 
command. We shall consider this relation of the anthropoid apes 
in general, as well as of men in general at a future time. 



CHAPTER III. 

MUSCLES ORGANS OF SENSE VISCERA — LARYNX GENITAL ORGANS 

NERVOUS SYSTEM BRAIN : ITS STRUCTURE, CONVOLUTIONS, 

WEIGHT RUDIMENTARY ORGANS AND REVERSIVE ANOMALIES. 

The study of the muscles naturally follows that of the skeleton. 
Their arrangement throughout the whole mammalian series is 
dependent on configuration, and on the various functions of 
movement. In no part of the organism is there to be found a 
more palpable demonsk^ation of the great physiological law that 
" use makes the organ," than in the wasting away of those parts 
which are not in use, and the hypertrophy of those constantly at 
AYork. i!ievertheless the type varies somewhat : the muscles are 
the same, but at one part a muscular fasciculus becomes strong or 
is reduced to a mere vestige ; at another a portion is detached, or 
subdivided, or its insertions are a little nearer or a little farther off. 
The muscles of the monkey are so like those of Man, that up to 
the fifteenth century, descriptions of them absolutely took the place 
of the latter. We are indebted to Andre Vesalius for having 
shown that the dissections of Galen were never carried on but upon 
monkeys. The resemblance is still more perfect in the anthropoid 
apes. 

We shall confine ourselves to mentioning some of the differences 

which we find among anthropoids. The cutaneous muscle which 

is so developed in the majority of mammalia, as well as in the 

' ordinary monkeys, for the purpose of contracting the skin, is 

concentrated in the cervical region in the anthropoid apes, where 



f- 



92 MUSCLES. [Chap. hi. 

its size is almost equal to that of Man. The whole of the cervical 
muscles, whose development in quadrupeds and in the inferior 
monkeys is in proportion to the necessity of maintaining the head 
in the horizontal jDOsition, have merely an importance in the 
anthropoid apes and in Man, commensurate with the oblique 
attitude in the former and the upright in the latter. 

The trachelo-acromialis muscle of Cuvier, which is met with in 
many of the mammalia, and especially in monkeys, is wanting in 
Man, as well as in the gorilla and the chimpanzee ; it seems to he 
merely a supplement to the elevator scapulae, which Man possesses 
also. 

The great rectus abdominis muscle, which has generally four 
aponeurotic intersections in mammalia (Cuvier), and seven in the 
cynocephali, has but five in man, in the chimpanzee, and in the 
gorilla. It is said that the anthropoid apes have a long abductor 
of the great toe more than Man, but it is merely a fasciculus of the 
tibialis anticus muscle. It is also said that they have a short 
extensor of the great toe, and an extensor digitorum with three 
tendons instead of four as in Man; but it|^ a misinterpretation of 
the same fact. The extensor of monkeys is in reality the counter- 
part of the same muscle so irregular in Man. So with regard to 
the black chimpanzee. It is said to have no proper extensor 
indicis. Two chimpanzees in M. Broca's laboratory, however, 
had it. 

Nevertheless, between Man and the anthropoid apes there are 
differences, though they are but slight. The situation and the inser- 
tions of the pectoralis minor vary in the two groups, and in that of 
the inferior monkeys ; but these variations are less recognised 
between the two former than between the anthropoid apes and the 
group next to them. The short flexor of the thumb, so powerful 
in Man, in anthropoids is atrophied, and blended with the deep 
flexor of the fingers, which is connected with the index. A tendon 
of this last, in the gorilla, is inserted into the thumb, and assists in 
the movement of flexion. The same tendon in the orang and the 
gibbon is furnished by the adductor of the thumb. 

In place of the proper extensor of the index and of the extensor 



Chap, hi.] MUSCLES. 93 

of the little fihger, the orang and the ordinary monkeys have only 
one muscle, with four tendons supplying the four fingers, not 
taking into consideration the common extensor of the fingers in 
either case. 

In the foot the difi'erenc.es are not so great. The great toe, on 
whose pretended movement of opposition an entirely erroneous 
system has been hased, is supplied by the same muscles as in Man. 
Nevertheless, owing to its more lateral insertion into the meta- 
tarsus, it is found that the long lateral peroneal muscle contributes 
partially to its flexion. 

The transverse adductor of the great toe, rudimentary in Man, is 
well developed in monkeys. The flexors of the toes differ some- 
what in Man, and in the anthropoids; but what the movements 
gain in force and extent in the latter, they lose in independence 
and precision in the former. In the orang the long flexor of the 
great toe is entirely Avanting. 

The sole muscular peculiarity by which the anthropoid is really 
separated from Man and is brought into closer affinity with the 
ordinary monkeys, is the existence in the arm of a fasciculus called 
the accessory of the latissimus dorsi, which does not exist in Man, 
and is inserted superiorly into the tendon of the latissimus dorsi^ 
and inferiorly into the head of the humerus. It has also been 
observed in a rudimentary state in some negroes. Two features of 
the muscular system have been noticed as distinctive of Man and 
animals, especially monkeys. These are the prominence of the 
buttocks and of the calves of the legs, owing to the development 
of the gluteal muscles and of the triceps, to which is due the 
strength of the tendo achillis. Such is the fact, and is a result of 
the biped attitude. The use of the gluteal muscles especially is to 
keep the thigh extended upon the pelvis. But in both respects 
the gorilla, casts of whose muscles have been taken from the sub- 
ject, and reproduced in pasteboard by M. Auzou, is un(iuestionably 
more favoured than some negroes. 

Moreover all the minute, or at least the more important points, 
!which seem peculiar to the anthropoid, are found from time to 
time in Man, and especially in the negro race. M. Chudzinski, 



94 ORGANS OF SENSE. [Chap. m. 

preparator to tlie laboratory of the Ecole des liaute's litudes, has 
already published two excellent memoirs upon this subject.* 



Organs of Sense. 

In these is included the cutaneous envelope which surrounds 
the 'body, protects it against external agencies, and is the seat of 
the function of touch. 

One of the characters which distinguish the class of mam- 
malia from that of birds, fishes, and reptiles, is the presence of hair 
upon the body. De Elainville proposed to substitute for his 
designation that oi jnliferes. Some, however, have the skin naked, 
as certain cetacese. The characteristic of man proposed by Lin- 
naeus, therefore, is anything but a correct one : ho7no nudus et 
inermis. Man really has hair not only on the head, on the face, 
under the armpits, and on the pubis, but over the whole of the 
body, and in certain races quite a thick crop on the chest, behind 
the shoulders, and on the limbs, resembling down, and masking 
the colour of the skin. The history of Esau is a most probable 
one. Compared with the majority of mammalia, and in particular 
of monkeys, Man is the least hairy ; the palms of his hands and the 
soles of his feet are alone without hair, which is to be accounted for 
by its having worn away. 

The smooth and indurated surfaces on the buttocks, called 
callosites fessieres in the pithecians, are wanting in the anthropoid 
apes, with the exception of certain gibbons, as well as in the cebians 
and lemurs. 

The nails, claws, and hoofs of mammalia are a secretion from the 
skin, like hah and horns. The presence of flat nails, not bent 
round, on the fingers and toes, has been given as a characteristic of 
Man. We must, therefore, associate the anthropoids with him. 
The orang alone forms a partial exception, having no nail on the 
great toe. Flat nails are found in the pithecians ; they are bent 

'■• " Contribution a I'Anatomie du Negre et Nouvelles Observations sur le 
Systeme Mnsculaire du Negre," by T. Chudzinski, in the " Revue d'Anthro- 
pologie," vols. ii. and iii. 



II 



Chap. III.] PALMAR WRINKLES. 95 

round into claws in the cynocephali ; the flat nail and the transition 
to the claw are seen simultaneously in others. The ouistitis, some 
other cebians, and the arctopithecians have claws, except on the 
•great toe. In lemurs it is the reverse : the claw is found on the 
great toe, and nails on the other toes. 

The arrangement of the wrinkles and of the corpuscles of Paccini 
in the palm of the hand has reference to the function of touch.* 

In Man, there are two principal wrinkles in the hand, one pro- 
'duced by the flexion of the last three fingers, the other by the 
flexion of the thumb, and passing round the eminence, ihemir ; a 
'third, which is variable, and between the two, is joined at its 
■external extremity with the latter, and is free, and nearly parallel 
with the former at its internal extremity. According to M. Alix, 
the fold of the thumb is wanting in the monkey tribe, and the 
other two are united to form one. The fact is evident in the three 
inferior groups, but doubtful as regards the first. If some 
anthropoids exhibit in consequence of this an inferior simian 
arrangement, Man is exceptionally in the same position. The 
corpuscles of Paccini, or tactile corpuscles, are little bodies situated 
in the direction of the nervous filaments of the palmar surface of 
the hand and fingers, and of the plantar surface of the foot. 
M. Kepveu has shown that their appearance under the microscope 
is alike in Man and the chimpanzee, whilst it is somewhat difi'erent 
in the common monkey, the baboon, and the sajou. 

The organ of vision is similar in Man, the anthropoid apes, the 
pitheeians, and the cebians. But in many lemurs, the fundus of 
the eye assumes a glittering appearance, -which in the cat and the 
ox has received the name of tapetum. A little muscular fasciculus 
■also exists, analogous to the musculus choanoides found in the 
majority of quadrupeds. 

The nose, anatomically the same in Man and the monkey tribe, 
■presents merely morphological changes. Sometimes projecting in 
the former, in a less degree however than in the nasicus, one of the 
pitheeians, it is at other times more or less flat, as in the generality 
of monkeys. The nostrils are usually directed downwards, as in the 
••anthropoid apes and pitheeians, and sometimes sideways, as in 



VISCEEA. 



[Chap, hi. 



cebians ; two arrangements whicli liave suggested to GeoiFroy Saint- 
Hilaire his division of monkeys into catarrhini and platyrrliini. The 
septum is comparatively thin in the catarrhini, and thick at the 
anterior triangular border in the platyrrhini. The cartilage of the 
ear, Avhose form and length are so variable in different mammals, in 
monkeys is usually strong, having no fold behind ; it is sometimes 
square above, and rounded off, and is without a lobule. These 
arrangements are occasionally found in Man. On the other hand, 
the ears of the gorilla and the chimpanzee are often as well folded 
as those of Man. 

The pithecians have two pouches, named ahajoiis, which open in 
the mouth — the anthropoids, like Man, having nothing of the 
kind. 



Viscera. 



I 



The length of the alimentary canal is about six times the length 
of the body, or about eleven metres, according to M. Sappey. In 
carnivora it varies from two to eight times, and in solipeds and 
ruminants from ten to twenty-eight times ; in monkeys it is from' 
live to eight times, in the gibbon about eight. 

The stomach of all the monkey tribe is simple as in Man. The 
semnopithecians and the colobians are exceptions; their stomach 
if not multiple, is at least multilocular, resembling the herbivora in 
this respect. The commencement of the large intestine, or caecum, 
lies in the right iliac fossa, as in Man, and is covered in front by 
the peritoneum. In pithecians, the caecum is, on the contrary, 
enveloped by the peritoneum, which forms one of the folds of the 
mesentery behind, and is designed for the purpose of facilitating 
the mobility of that part of the intestine. In the anthropoid the 
peritoneum surrounds the caecum, as in Man. 

An appendix, the vermicular, is annexed to the human caecum. 
It exists also in anthropoid apes, but is wanting in the monlieys 
below them, with the exception of some lemurs. 

The liver of Man has, properly speaking, only two lobes ; in 
anthropoid apes it is similar. In the other monkeys, on the 
contrary, it is very much subdivided, as in the lion and the rabbit. 



J 



Chap, hi.] PEEITONEUM AND PEEICAEDIUM. 97 

M. Broca in liis memoir, " Sur les Primates," has drawn attention 
to the variations of the peritoneum, the serons membrane which 
is reflected round the organs in the abdominal cavity, and has for 
its object to isolate them, and to allow them to glide smoothly 
upon one another. His opinion is, that the arrangement of the 
peritoneum does not perceptibly differ in Man and the anthropoid 
apes, whilst in passing to the pithecians it immediately exhibits 
marked differences. 

The distinction of mammalia into bipeds and quadrupeds may 
to a certain extent be recognised by the arrangement of their 
internal organs. The marked peculiarity of the peritoneum in its 
relation to the caecum may be specially mentioned. In the chest 
we see differences of the same description. 

The pericardium, or membrane surrounding the heart, is to this 
organ what the peritoneum is to the intestines. In Man it is 
altogether separated from the sternum and is attached to the 
diapliragm, a transverse muscular septum which separates tlie 
thoracic from the abdominal cavity. In quadrupeds it is firmly 
fixed to the sternum and to the articulations of the ribs, and is not 
attached to the diaphragm. In the former, indeed, the heart lies 
on the diaphragm, in the latter on the sternum, in accordance with 
the attitude of the animal. In monkeys the arrangement is inter- 
mediate; in lemurs the pericardium does not adhere to the 
diaphragm except to a very limited extent ; in cebians and pithe- 
cians the surface attachment increases in size. In the anthroi)oid 
apes the pericardium is as in Man. Similar changes occur in the 
direction of the heart, in the length of the vena cava inferior, and 
in the curve of the aorta near its origin. 

In quadrupeds a result of the non-attachment of the heart to the 
diaphragm, is the interposition between the two of a lobule of the 
right lung. This lobule, known by the name of iinpar, exists 
throughout the whole mammalian series, from the marsupialia to 
the carnivora, and is wanting in Man. In the lemurians and the 
cebians it is also developed. In the pithecians it becomes less ; in 
the gibbons it is almost nil; in the orang, the chimpanzee, and 
the gorilla there is not the slisrhtest trace of it. 



98 THE LARYXX. [Chap. hi. 

Eroni the viscera we now pass to tlie vessels, wliere we shall 
always find a confirmation of the same fact — namely, that the 
organisation of anthropoids is a connterpart of that of Man, and 
differs widely from that of the other simian gronps. We shall say 
a few words respecting the larynx and the organs of reproduction 
hefore entering upon a study of the very highest importance — that 
of the brain. 

Tlie Larynx. 

The larynx, or organ of voice, is at the Tipper extremity of the 
windpipe, where the glottis is situated, through which the air is 
respired. It is composed, like the trachtea, of cartilages, though 
much larger. The two principal ones are the cricoid below and ! 
the thyroid above. It is closed at certain moments by another 
cartilage, which acts like a valve, and is called the epiglottis. ^ In 
all essential points this little apparatus is identical throughout the 
entire mammalian series, and notably in that of monkeys. 

Upon four points of its extent — that is to say, below the cricoid, 
between it and the thyroid, between the thyroid and the epiglottis, 
and between the vocal chords — are seen occasionally dilatations 
or ampullai, which have considerable importance in anthropoid 
apes; some median and single — giving rise to three primary 
anatomical varieties — others ' lateral and double, forming a 
fourth. The first, or tracheal variety of dilatation, is observed in 
the horse, the ass, and in the coaita, one of the monkeys of the 
cebian group ; the second in two other kinds of cebians ; the third 
in a lemur, a cebian, two pithecians, and a gibbon. The fourth 
variety exists in a rudimentary state in Man under the name of 
arrih-e-cavltc, or ventricle of the larynx, ''^ and attains with age, in 
the three higher anthropoids, an enormous development, especi- 
ally in the male, and is known in them under the name of air 
sac. In a young chimpanzee dissected by M. JJroca, it formed 

■''■ M. Sappey closcribed it under the name of / ortiori verticale of the 
ventricles of the larynx. It is situated, he says, at the upper border of the 
thyroid cartilage, close to the hyoid bone, and in rarer instances reaches 
to the base of the tongue, and extends under its mucous membrane. 



J 



Chap, hi..] 



LARYNGEAL SACS. 



two littk lateral projections about the size of a pea, wliicli over- 
lapped above the superior border of the thyroid. In the aged 
gorilla and orang the projections become larger, and run under 
the sterno-inastoid muscles, under the trapezius, envelop the 




Fig.. 14.— Vertical and antei-o-posterior section of tlic face .incl neck : «, Bodies of the 
cervical vertebra? ; m, Basilar process, or body of tbe occij)ital bone ; /», Floor of 
the anterior cerebral fossa ; o, p, q, Superior middle and inferior sbeEs of the nasal 
fossaj ; I, Arch of the palate ; /, Velum of the palate ; k, Genio-glossal muscles of 
the tongue, attacked in front to the tubercles geni; situated at the posterior surface 
of the lower jaw ; b, Oisophagus ; c, Trachaja ; (f, Thyroid cartilage ; c, Epiglottis ; 
i, Os hyoides, serving as a point of attachment for important muscles of the tongue 
and larynx. The transverse slit v/hich is seen in the latter, and whose borders form 
the vocal chords, is the ventricle of the larynx, into which the urricrv-cacltc of 
Morgagni opens. 

clavicle, and reach down to the armpits. They are, in fact, 
veritable hernise. In a morphological point of view, these sin- 
gular organs establish an important difference between ]\ran and 
the anthropoids in question; but, in an anatomical point of 
view, the difference is nil ; it is the same organ, only of a dif- 

II 2 



100 OEGANS OP EEPEODUCTIOJs'. [Chap, hi, 

ferent size. We may add, lastly, tliat tlie true air sac is absolutely 
"vvanting in all the other apes, so that this, which appears to 
establish a character between Man and the anthropoid, shows, 
on the contrary, their relationship, and the distance of the latter 
from others of the monkey tribe. 



Organs of Reprodndlon. 

The characters which they furnish are those to which we 
attach the greatest value in the various departments of natural 
history ; the class mammalia is, indeed, based upon them. All 
mammalia are viviparous — that is to say, bring forth their young 
alive — and all have teats. These glands var}' in number, generally 
being ecpial to that of the young which they bring forth at a birth, 
and they vary also in situation. The cat has 8; the bitch, 10; 
the agouti, 14 ; woman, 2, although generally she has but one 
child at a birth. They are abdominal in the carnivora and the 
marsupialia ; inguinal in solipeds and ruminants ; and pectoral in 
the woman, the elephant, and the lamantin. In this twofold- 
point of view, monkeys, including the anthi'opoid apes, are con- 
structed after the type of Man. Many lemurs have four teats- 
two pectoral and two inguinal, some macaucos having four peo 
toral ; all the others have two teats, attached to the breast. 

Among mammalia, a few, as the marsupials, have no placenta— 
that is to say, an intermediate lieshy substance between the embryc 
and the uterus ; others have one, called en zone, when it occupies 
a considerable surface of the internal parietes of the uterus, or e% 
disque when it occupies only a small portion. Man, the monkej 
tribe, the rodentia, the insectivora, and the cheiroptera belong tc 
this category. There is some difference between them howevei 
In Man the placenta is single, and the umbilical cord is composd 
of one vein and two arteries. In cebians it is still single, bit 
it is furnished with two veins and two arteries. In pitheciani 
it is double ; it has, however, only one cord, formed of one vein 
and two arteries. In which arrangement do the anthropoids ap- 



i 



Chap, iil] CEREBI10-SPI:N"AL AXIS. .101 

proacli to them? The gibbon, which usually holds the transi- 
tional position "between them and the pithecians, has, like them, 
a double placenta. In the chimpanzee, on the contrary, it is 
single, as in Man (Oa-e?i). The orang and the gorilla have not 
been examined on this point. 

After the descent of the testis into the scrotum in Man, the 
peritoneal communication is obliterated ; in other mammalia it is 
j)ersistent. JN'othing is yet known as to this in anthropoids. The 
.-same may be said with regard to quadrupeds generally. The uterus 
in them has two cornua, and is divided into two cavities. That of 
woman is, as a rule, unilocular ; that of ordinary monkeys holds a 
aniddle position. 



Nervous System. 

In the Invertebrata it is composed of little masses of gray sub- 
stance interspersed through the viscera, and attached to them by 
nervous filaments. In the Vertebrata there is, in addition, another 
and a symmetrieai apparatus, consisting of an axis, called the 
•cerebro-spinal, of centrifugal nerves for movements, and of centri- 
petal for impressions. The essential differences between them are 
to be found at the superior or anterior extremity of the axis or 
encephalon, which we shall first describe as it exists in Man. 

Tlie spinal cord, called medulla oblongata at the level of the 
hrst cervical vertebra, passes through the occipital foramen, beneath 
the transverse fibres which unite the two lobes of the cerebellum 
under the name of pons varolii, and divides into two fasciculi called 
the cerebral peduncles, one to the right the other to the left ; they 
then spread out into two fan-like expansions of white fibres, pass 
upwards and outwards, bend down at the borders like a mushroom 
about its stalk, and go to form the cerebral hemispheres, on the 
surface of which is a layer of gray substance. The white portion is 
the conducting matter, the gray the sentient and reacting. At the 
internal contiguous borders of the hemispheres the white transverse 
fibres become bound together to form the corpus callosum. Each 



102 ENCEPHALON. [Chap. in. 

is siirroiiiidcd by a canal, forming a series of cavities, of wliicli tlie- 
principal are tlie lateral ventricles, wliicli exhibit three cornua :. 
the anterior or frontal cornn, the inferior or teniporo-splienoidal„ 
and the posterior or occipital — the last presenting an elevation on 
its floor called hippocampus minor. 

The encephalon consists of (1) The cerehellnm; (2) The portion 
lying between its two lobes connecting the medulla oblongata with 
the brain — the pons varolii, or protnberantia annidaris; (3) The- 
brain proper, formed by the peduncles and the series of expansions^ 
which proceed from them — viz. the tubercula quadrigemina, thc' 
optic thalami, and the corpora striata — by the ventricles, and by 
the cerebral hemis})lieres, the surface of which exhibits sinuosities: 

The principal sinuosities are called convolutions, and the 
secondary ones, folds. The external surface of the brain occupied 
by these is divided into distinct portions or lobes by fissures, and 
the convolutions of which these lobes are composed, b}^ sulci. The 
communications 'oetween the lobes are called transition convolu- 
tions ( plis de ■passcuje), and those between one convolution and 
another in the same lobe, anastomoses. 

From the base of the encephalon arise the first twelve j^airs of 
nerves, or encephalic nerves. The first are the olfactory, the 
bulbous portion of which — called the olfactory bulb — lies longi- 
tudinally in a depression on the surface of the anterior lobe ; the 
second are the optic, whose decussation at the median line is called 
the chiasma. 

When we place the encephalon on its upper or convex surface, 
and remove the cerebellum and pons varolii by a trans-\^erse section 
passing between the junction of the latter with the cerebral 
peduncles, the vdiole inferior surface of the two hemispheres is 
exposed to view (I'ig. 15). At the junction of the anterior third 
with the posterior two-thirds is seen a deep transverse fissure, 
with its concavity looking backwards. This is the fissure of 
Sylvius (A, Tig. IG). The j)ortion in front is the inferior surface 
of the frontal or anterior lobe ; that behind is the inferior surface 
of the posterior lobe, Avhicli is separated into two Avell-marked 



EXTERNAL SUEFACE OF HEMISPHEEES. 



103 



Chap, hi.] 

and unequal portions, the one with its convexity looking for- 
wards and outwards, which is the inferior region of the temporo- 




FiG. 15. — Inferior surface of the encepLalon : A, Anterior or frontal lobe ; U, Temporo- 
sphenoidal portion of the posterior lobe : A and B are separated by a fissure with its 
cmcavity looking backwards — the fissure of Sylvius. C b, Cerebellum ; M, Section 
of the spinal cord where it joins the medulla oblongata ; VI, Annular protiiberance ~ 
at its anterior border are seen the two cerebral peduncles ; C C, Corpus callosum — 
the dotted line is on the median or inter-hemispherical line ; I to XII, The twelve 
pairs of encephalic nerves at their origin ; I, Olfactory nerve with its bulb ; II, Optic 
nerve, the union of which with that of the opposite side forms the chiasm a ; III, 
IV, VI, Nerves of motion of the globe of the eye ; V, Trigeminal, or fifth, supply- 
ing the muscles of expression-; XII, Hyiaogiossal nerve, the nerve of motion of the 
tongue. 

sphenoidal lobe, the other, posterior or concave, upon which the 
cerebellum lies. 

The superior or convex surface of the hemispheres may be viewed 
from above or laterally, the plates sometimes representing them 



10 i FISSURE OF SYLVIUS. [Chap. hi. 

under one aspect, sometimes under another. We prefer tlie latter 
method. Each hemisphere has an internal surface, which looks 
towards the median line, and an external. 

The first thing which strikes the attention on looking at the 
external surface is the fissure of Sylvius, which has passed round 
the inferior border of the hemisphere, and whose external surface 
is shown at A, Fig. 1 6. It is divided into two branches, wMch 
unite in the form of a Y. The anterior and vertical is very short, 
and is lost in the anterior lobe ; the posterior is longer, and passes 
obliquely backwards and a little upwards, having below it a large 
elongated and very distinct cerebral lobe, which is the temporo- 
sphenoidal lobe already seen from underneath. The fissure of 
Sylvius corresponds on the skull with the superior Ijorder of the 
squamous portion of the temporal {Br oca). 

There is no mark of equal importance to this on the external 
surface of the brain, and it is asked how Ave contrive to make any 
other fundamental division. It is, however, in the midst of the 
sulci, apparently so complicated, that we take the fissure of Eolando 
(B, Fig. 16) as the line of separation of this surface into the 
imterior or frontal, and the posterior or parieto-occipital lobe. It 
is constant, and, in the foetus, the most clearly defined after the 
fissure of Sylvius. Its situation and direction are nearly the same 
in all healthy brains. It commences some millimetres above the 
fissure of Sjdvius, and passes vertically, or rather a little obliquely, 
backwards, reaching to within a few millimetres of the superior 
l^order of the hemisphere. Its obliquity and its situation are 
indicated by the two following relations : The total length of the 
brain being reckoned as 100, the portion in front is to that behind 
as 43*0 to 57*0 at the inferior extremity of the sulcus, and as 56*3 
to 43 '7 at its superior. It follows from this that the middle por- 
tion should be equidistant from the two extremities of the 
hemisphere. M. Hamy calculates that the inclination of the 
sulcus in the adult is about 70 degrees. 

Gratiolet thought that the fissure of Eolando corresponds exactly, 
on the skull, with the coronal sutin^e. M. Broca was the first to 
notice that, in the European, it is always from 40 to 56 millimetres 



<:!hap. III.] CONVOLUTIONS. 105 

liehiiid it at its upper part, 47 in the middle, and 15 at the lower 
part.'" 

A second fissure marks another division of the external surface 
of the hemispheres — namely, the external perpendicular fissure 
(E E, Fig. 16). It separates the posterior lobe into two, the 
parietal and the occipital lobe, and on the skull answers to the 
lambdoidal suture, being distant from it about two millimetres. In 
order to discover it, the student should look for it from its pro- 
. longation on the floor of the hemisphere, to a few centimetres from 
the posterior extremity, where it takes the name of internal per- 
pendicular fissure. It is so called because it exactly separates, 
from below upwards, the most remote part of the hemisphere, to 
form of it an occipital lobe. 

We have then (1) An anterior or frontal lobe, bounded behind by 
the fissure of Rolando ; (2) A middle or parietal lobe, included 
between the latter and the external perpendicular fissure ; (3) A 
posterior or occipital lobe, situated behind the perpendicular fissure ; 
and (4) An inferior or temporo-sphenoidal lobe, subjacent to the 
long branch of the fissure of Sylvius. Such are the important 
divisions on the external surface of the hemispheres. We shall 
now describe those of the internal surface, as well as its convolu- 
tions. 

Convolutions. 

The acts of transmission in the brain, Avliich have reference to 
altogether voluntary movements, to certain reflex movements, "to 
sensations, or to certain phases of intellectual operations, have for 
their seat the fibres of which the central white mass of the hemi- 
spheres is formed. The initiative acts of thought pass, on the 
contrary, through the gray substance Avhich constitutes the cortical 
portion of these hemispheres. Consequently, the greater the 
amount of gray substance, and of surface upon which it can be 
deA''eloped in a continuous layer, the more power the truly intel- 
lectual phenomena acquire. To this end, the surface is folded and 

■"■ " Sur la Deformation Toulousaine du Crane," by Paul Broca, in " Bull. 
Soc. d'Anttrop.," 2nd series, vol. vi., 1871. 



106 CONVOLUTIONS. [Chap. hi. 

contorted, so as to increase its extent. Sucli is tlie office of the 
convolutions, elongated and tortuous swellings, separated by sulci 
more or less deep. It was long thought that their arrangement 
was inextricable and the result of mere chance. This is an error : 
the complexity is only apparent. They consist of fundamental 
parts, or convolutions, properly so called, whose type is constant 
throughout the human series ; and of secondary parts or folds, 
which exhibit variations between one individual and another, 
similar to those which the features of tlie countenance present. 
The brain of the foetus at the beginning is smooth. The fissures 
appear first, then the sulci. At the seventh month the convolu- 
tions are simple but formed ; at birth it is the same with the folds. 
At a later period the whole is completed. The convolutions 
become enlarged and more complex as age advances, in proportion 
to the activity Avhich the organ exhibits. A convolution would be 
rectilinear in a subject of tolerable intelligence, as in the patient of 
BicOtre, Avhose brain we have now before us. In another subject 
of superior intelligence it would be tortuous, double, and altered in 
form, by the pressure of neighbouring redundant .convolutions. The 
sulci would be hidden, and the anastomosis betvfeen one convolu- 
tion and another, in a rudimentary state in the former, wliile in the 
latter it would be considerable, and would cause a change in the 
configuration of the primary convolution. This, which is called 
the richness of the convolutions — that is to say, their development 
in number and tortuosity, causes not only an absolute increase in 
the quantity of these convolutions, but also a reduction in size of 
each of them taken singly. Large and simple convolutions are thus 
a sign of idiotcy, or of weak intellect, in any race. Small convolu- 
tions with numerous foldings are a sign of large intellectual capacity. 
However, by carefully studying the brains of monkeys, of the 
foetus, of infants, and of idiots with simple convolutions, all this 
is explained. Desmoulins first drew attention to this subject. "^ 
The imaginative fancies of phrenologists, and some recent results 
in reference to the localisation of the faculties, have given it a 

■'•■ " Anatomie du Systeme Nerveiix," by A. Desmoulins, vol. ii., 1825. 



Chap, hi.] 



CONVOLUTIONS. 



107 



new direction. IS^ow, thanks to tlie labours of Gratiolet, Owen, 
Turner, Bischoff, Broca, and Ecker, it has been made clear. All 
that we must do is to turn it to account in studying the science of 
comparatiye intellectual phenomena.* 

B 




Fig. 16. — Diagram of the external surface of the brain : A, Fissure of Sylvius ; B, Fissur© 
of Rolando J C, Parallel sulcus; D, Interparietal sulciis; E, External perpendicular 
fissure. 

1, First antero-posterior frontal convolution, double ; 2, Second frontal convolution ; 
3, Third frontal convolution ; 4, 5, 6, Convolutions of the orbital region of the frontal 
lobe; 7, Ascending frontal, or ascending anterior convokition ; 8, Ascending parietal, 
or ascending posterior convolution ; 9, Superior parietal convolution ; 10, Inferior 
parietal convolution, or curved fold; 11, 12, First and second temporo-sphenoidal con- 
volutions ; B, Third temporo-sphenoidal convolution in continuation vrith the third 
temporo-sphenoidal of the internal surface ; 14, The three storeys of the occipital 
lobe ; a and h. First and second pits ch 2Mssage, uniting the two parietal convolutions 
w^ith the occipital lobe ; c and d, Third and fourth 2)lis de 'jwssaf/c, uniting the last 
two temporo-sphenoidal convolutions with the occipital lobe ; e, Gyrus, belonging to 
the third transverse frontal convolution. 

The external or convex surface of the brain (Figs. 16 and 18), 
looked at in ])rofile, is that from which we shall commence our 
description of the convolutions. We shall consider first the fissure 

* " Sur la Structure des Circonvolutions." See " Eecherclies snr la 
Structure de la Cotiche Corticale des Circonyolutions," by M. Baillarger, in 
" Mem. Acad, de Medecine," 1840, vol. viii., and the article " Cervean," in tlie 
" Dictionnaire Encycl. des Sciences Medicales." 



1'08 



FEONTAL AND PARIETAL LOBES. 



[Chap. hi. 



of Sylvius— tiiat is to say, its base, and the parts below and above. 
The base only deserves mention as regards the point of the Y. 
By separating the two lips at this point we discover a well-marked 
tubercle, called insula of Eeil, and also central lobule, because it is 
situated in the exact line of the cerebral peduncles ; it is occupied 
by five or six shallow folds, which radiate from its inferior angle. 
The region below, or temporo-sphenoidal lobe, forms a large mass, 
obliquely directed from below upv-^-ards, and from behind forwards, 
and is traversed in the same way by a sulcus, which is parallel to 
the fissure of S^dvius, and which on that account is called the 
parallel sulcus (C). From its posterior extremity a small cul-de-sac 
passes to the centre of the parietal lobe, and sometimes a prolonga- 
tion towards the occipital lobe. A second sulcus is observed below, 
but of much less importance. The intermediate enlargements are 
termed the first, second, and third temporo-sphenoidal convolutions 
(11, 12, 13), the third or inferior appertaining also to the inferior 
surface of the brain. 

The region above includes both the frontal and the parietal 
lobes, separated by the fissure of Rolando, whose tAvo lips form two 
of the most distinct convolutions of the whole system of the 
external surface. Having the same direction as the sulcus which 
separates them, one belongs to the frontal lobe and takes the name 
of anterior ascending convolution (7), the other to the parietal lobe, 
and is called the posterior ascending convolution (8). 

The frontal lobe, so important in Man, since it is in it that 
his highest, faculties reside, consists of three regions : one, which 
we shall find on the external surface ; a second, which is seen 
on the inferior ; and a third, the most important of all. The 
second rests upon the roof of the orbit, and comprises three or four 
small convolutions of but little interest : one bound up between 
the sulcus of the olfactory nerve and the internal border of the 
hemisphere, and which forms the termination of the first frontal 
convolution; the other two being in continuation, in the same 
way, with the two frontals on the external surface. 

The frontal region proper of the anterior lobe comprises four 
convolutions : an anterior or frontal ascending, already mentioned, 



Chap, hi.] FEOXTAL LOBE. lOD* 

and three longitudinal and parallel, superposed in three storeys. 
The first, or superior frontal convolution, arises by one, and some- 
times by two roots from the superior extremity of the ascending, 
becomes double, skirts the superior border of the hemisphere, and 
is lost in the orbital region. The second, or middle frontal con- 
volution, arises also behind, by one root, and bifurcates occasionally 
to give an anastomosis to two adjoining frontal convolutions. The 
posterior part of the sulcus, which separates it from the third, cor- 
responds, according to M. Eroca, to the curved temporal line of the 
parietal. The third, or inferior frontal convolution, commences in 
the most sloping portion of the ascending frontal, forms a large 
gyrus round the small branch of the fissure of Sylvius, and loses 
itself in front, 

M. Broca's way of looking at it is somewhat difi'erent. He 
merely brings in the ascending frontal convolution to assist in ther 
description. According to him there are only tliree frontal convo- 
lutions, all antero-posterior and parallel, including, at the back, the 
portion of the ascending convolution where each takes its origin^ 
which must not be forgotten when discussing the localisation of the 
faculty of language. We know indeed that there is aphasia — that 
is to say, loss of speech ; or aphemia — that is, to say, loss of speech 
with preservation of the intellect, whenever an acute lesion occurs 
at the posterior part of the third frontal convolution of Broca wdien 
this lesion is on the left side. The faculty of language has its seat 
on both sides, but it is put in exercise from this side in the greater 
number of cases. Its surface has a vertical extent of about four 
centimetres, and an antero-posterior of from two to three and a half. 
Its form is that of a quadrilateral, bounded in front by the small 
branch of the fissure of Sylvius, and behind by the base of the 
fissure of Eolando. Its centre corresponds, on the external part of 
the skidl, with a point situated about one centimetre and a half 
behind the coronal suture, and three centimetres above the pterion."^ 

* " Stir ie Siege cle la Faciilte clu Langage Articule," by P. Broca, in 
" Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," Paris, 1861 ; and " Sur la Topographie Cerebrale, 
on sur les Eapports Anatomiques du Crane et du Cerveau," by the same, in 
" llevue d'Anthrop.," vol. v., 1876. 



no PAEIETAL AXD OCCIPITAL LOBES. [Chap. iii. 

The next, or parietal loLe, included between tlic border of tlie 
lieniispliere above, the fissiir^ of Sylvius, and the teniporo-sphenoidal 
lobe below, and the perpendicular fissure behind, is formed by three 
convolutions. The first, or posterior, ascending, has been described. 
The second, or superior parietal convolution (9), commences by one 
or two roots towards the middle and superior portion of the posterior 
ascending, describes a number of vertical flexures Avhich reach to 
the superior border of the hemisphere, and form a small lobule, 
which is very easily recognised. The third is below, and is sepa- 
rated from it . by a transverse sulcus, called the interparietal 
sulcus (D) ; it arises at the inferior part of the posterior ascending, 
in the angle which it makes with the fissure of Sylvius, turns 
round the end of this and ends in a group of vertical fiexures, 
which anastomose, sometimes with the first, sometimes with the 
second temporo-sphenoidal convolution, and sometimes with l)oth. 
This is the inferior parietal convolution, or curved fold of 
Gratiolet (10), so called, because the fold embraces in a simjDle or 
complex gyrus, not only the termination of the fissure of Sylvius, 
but also that of the parallel sulcus. Another ai-rangeihent is found. 
The termination of this parallel sulcus is bifurcated, and its posterior 
branch reaches the external perpendicular fissure, which it leaps 
over to become one of the transverse sulci of the occipital lobe. 
In this case, the gyrus which the curved fold forms is persistent ; 
but it goes to form what we shall presently call the second 
transition convolution, without anastomosing with the second 
temporo-sphenoidal convolution. M. Gratiolet has described on the 
side of the inferior parietal convolution, a superior marginal fold, 
and an inferior marginal fold, which are merely the folds bordering 
the extremity of the fissure of Sylvius. The former, indeed, is the 
part of the inferior parietal convolution, Avliich extends from its 
junction with the posterior ascending convolution, to the end of the 
fissure, and the latter is the continuation of the first temporo- 
sphenoidal convolution. The increased size of the flexures is of 
little importance, inasmuch as they constantly vary. 

The occipital lobe, the smallest of all, is formed of three storeys, 
which are bounded by tv/o antero-posterior sulci. The external 



I 



€hap. III.] INTEKNAL SURFACE OF HEMISPHERES. Ill 

perpendicular fissure separates it from the parietal lobe, and from 
"the temporo-splienoidal lobe ; a fissure somewhat difficult to trace 
out in Man, because it is partly filled up, or hidden by four folds of 
communication with the adjoining lobes, whose study affords 
considerable interest under the name oij)lis tie passage, or transition 
convolutions {a, h, c, and d). The first, or superior, of Gratiolet, 
comes from the superior parietal convolution; the second, or in- 
ferior, from the inferior parietal ; the third, lower down, from the 
second temporo-sphenoidal convolution ; and the fourth, concealed 
at the inferior border of the brain by the third temporo-sphenoidal 
.convolution. 

We shall say but little as to the internal surface of the hemi- 
sphere, which is in apposition with the falx cerebri on the median 
line (Fig. 17). When Ave harden and dry a brain by M. Eroca's 
process (nitric acid),"^' the organ shrinks more in the transverse 
direction, and that which formed the concave part of the interior 
surface behind, appears, Avhen looking at it sideways, to form part 
of the internal surface. . We shall study in this ■\^'ay the two 
surfaces united. 

In the centre is seen the corpus callosum, an elongated vault 
which covers in the ventricles, and is terminated in front by a 
swelling called r/cjw/i (knee), the most slanting point of Avliich is 
the hee (beak), and behind by another swelling called the lourrelet 
(cushion). Towards its exterior extremity is then seen a slit 
rendered gaping by the preparation, which is the internal perpen- 
dicular fissure already described. On this surface is a triangular 
lobule, forming a portion of the occipital lobe, looking from this 
.side, and which bounds the sulcus of the hippocampi below. All 
the portion situated beneath, and to the left of this sulcus in the 
figure, is the internal surface (at the lower part) of the temporo- 
sphenoidal lobe. A primary and well-detined transverse sulcus, 
■and a smaller faint one which is parallel to it, divide this region 
into three convolutions (6, 7, and 8) ; the superior bending round 

.* *' Precede pour la Momification des Cerveaux," by M. Paul Brcca, in 
•'" Bull. Soc. d'Authrop.," vol. i., 18G5. 



112 



INTER:N'AL SUEFACE of hemispheres. [Chap. hi. 



ill a gyrus at its anterior extremity, to form tlie outline of the 
circumpeduncular fissure, and the inferior forming one with the 
third temporo-sphenoidal on the external surface. 




Fig. 17. — Diagram of the internal surface of the brain, a, Genoa of the corpus callosum ;: 
b, Bourreletof the corpus callosum ; c, The crura cerebri cut across ; A. Fronto-parietal 
fissure ; B, Internal perpendiciilar fissure ; S, Fissure of Sylvius : H, Sulcus of the 
hippocampi ; 1, 2, and 3, Internal frontal convolutions ; 1,. Portion in continuation 
with the first frontal of the external surface ; 3, Its oval lobule ; 4, Quadrilateral, or 
internal parietal lobule ; 5, Triangular, or internal occipital lobule ; 6 and 7, First 
and second Internal temporo-sphenoidal convolutions ; 8, Third internal temporo- 
sphenoidal convolution in continuation with the third on the external svirface ; 9, 
Convolution of the corpus callosum, or hem. 

In front of the triangular lohule is a well-marked quadrangular 
lobule (Foville), which is simply the internal side of the superior 
parietal lobe, lengthened out below as far as the corpus callosum, 
and bounded behind by the perpendicular fissure, and in front by 
a small oval lobule (Pozzi) — which we may leave for the present — 
which is situated in front of the quadrangular lobule, close to the 
superior border of the hemisphere. This lobule is formed by the 
junction, looking from the internal surface, of the two anterior and « 
];)osterior ascending convolutions of its external surface. ■{ 

The remaining portion of the internal surface is divided into twa 
parts, the one superior and. anterior, which forms part of the frontal 



Chap, hi.] • CONVOLUTIONS. 113 

lobe; tlie other inferior, and resting on the corpus callosum, to 
which we must consider it as attached. A fissure, however, divides 
them, which is called festonnee, or calloso-marginal, in its anterior 
four-fifths, and fronto-parietal towards its termination. It com- 
mences below the beak of the corpus callosum, turns round its knee, 
passes horizontally behind, and, separating the oval from the quad- 
rilateral lobule, reaches obliquely the superior border of the hemi- 
sphere. A single convolution, called the convolution of the corpus 
callosum, is concentric to it, and continues to follow this organ, to 
form the base of the quadrilateral lobule, and to anastomose with the 
first internal temporo-sphenoidal convolution. Another convolution, 
called the internal frontal, is eccentric to it, and has the form of an 
italic S. Its anterior gyrus is separated from the knee of the corpus 
callosum by the convolution and the fissure just mentioned, and its 
posterior gyrus forms the oval lobule. In the greater part of its 
length it is divided by an interrupted sulcus into two storeys, of 
which the first is in direct continuation with the first frontal 
convolution on the external surface. The number and distribution 
of the primary convolutions may be summed up as follows : 

External Surface. 

! Orbital region , 3 convolutions in form of a star. 
Frontal region \ ^ ascending convolution. 
( 3 antero-posterior convolutions. 
!1 ascending convolution. 
, , . \\ superior. 

2 convolutions ] , . i^ . 
( 1 interior. 

Occipital lobe 3 antero-posterior convolutions. 
Temporo-sphe- 
noidal lobe . 3 parallel convolutions. 

Internal Surface. 

Frontal lobe ... ... ... 1 convolution. 

Parietal lobe ... ... ... 1 quadrilateral lobule. 

^ . ., , -J 1 T T, \ 1 triangular lobule. 

Temporo-occipito-spnenoidal lobe ] ^ ^ ^ , 

{ 3 parallel convolutions. 

Lobe of the corpus callosum ... 1 convolution. 

One point in reference to the convolutions upon which M. Broca 
lays stress, is their want of symmetry on both sides in the best 

I 



114 YARIA^TIONS OF CONVOLUTIONS IN MAMMALIA. [Chap. hi. 

selected individuals. Siinple convolutions, developed uninter- 
ruptedly, and alike • in Loth hemispheres, are characteristic of 
inferiority in Man, as well as throughout the mammalian series. 
Bichat then was wrong when, influenced by a statement of 
Tiedemann, he attributed intellectual aberrations to the asymmetry 
of the brain; his own autopsy proved the contrary. "^^ 

The difference between the encephalon of mammalia and that of 
Man is in the relative volume of the principal parts, in certain 
internal structural arrangements, in the absence or in the number of 
the convolutions, and in the weight of the organ. 

On viewing the whole encephalic system on its superior surface, 
we notice that the hemispheres in the marsupialia and monotremata 
exhibit in front certain swellings called olfactory bulbs, which, in 
the majority of mammalia, have the importance of lobes, and behind 
the greater portion of the tubercula quadrigemina, or optic lobes, 
and the cerebellum. In other animals, as the ant-eater, the rat, the 
hare, and the bat, the optic lobes cease to be visible, but the 
olfactory lobes and the cerebellum are more exposed to view. In 
others, and as far as monkeys exclusively, the former are concealed, 
while a more or less considerable portion of the cerebellum is 
visible. In lemurians, the cerebellum slightly projects beyond the 
hemispheres ; in pithecians and cebians it is more generally on a 
level with them. In the anthropoid apes and in Man, not only is 
it out of sight, but the hemispheres in their turn more or less pass 
beyond it. 

* On the subject of the convolutions, see " Traite de I'Anatomie Physiolo- 
gique et Pathologique clu Systeme Nerveux Cerebro- Spinal," by Foville, 1st 
part, Paris, 1844 ; " Memoire sur les Plis du Cerveau," by M. Biscboff, in 
" BuU. Soc. d'Antbrop.," 2nd series, vol. iv., 1869; "Memoire sur les Plis: 
Cerebraux de rHomme et des Primates," by Gratiolet, Paris, 1855, a memoir 
already mentioned in " Les Primates," by M. Broca, 1869 ; " The Convolution 
of the Human Cerebrum topographically considered," by Turner, Paris, 
1866 ; " Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Piirchen und Windungen der 
Grosshirn-Hemispharen in Fotus der Menschen," by Ecker, in " Archiv f iir 
Anthrop.," 1868 ; " Etudes sur les Circonvolutions chez I'Homme et les 
Singes," by J. Gromier, Paris, 1874 ; Article " Circonvolutions," in " Diet. 
Encycl. des Sciences Medicales," by S. Pozzi, Isfc series, vol. xvii., 1875. 



I 



Chaimii.] divisions OF OWEN. 115 

The brain is modified also as to form. In Man it is more or 
less elongated as a whole, and ovoid at its anterior extremity ; its 
frontal region is contracted occasionally, as though squeezed together, 
globular, and acquires its maximum of fulness. The last traces of 
this contraction are seen in front, at the point of the internal 
anterior and inferior angle of each hemisphere. It is more or less 
strongly marked in pithecians, less so in the anthropoid apes, and 
commonly not at all in Man. 

In these two relations, the anthropoids more nearly approach to 
Man than to the other monkeys. 

As regards internal structure, the first diff'erence is the absence 
of the corpus callosum in the marsupialia and the monotremata, 
as well as in the classes of vertebrata below, whilst it exists in all 
the other mammalia. The aqueduct of Sylvius, a simple canal 
perforating the corpora-quadrigemina in Man and the majority of 
the mammalia, is a cavity, or rather a supplementary ventricle 
in the kangaroo. The anterior and middle cornua of the lateral 
ventricles exist in all the mammalia ; the posterior • or occipital 
cornu is peculiar to Man, to the monkey, the seal, and the porpoise. 
Professor Owen thought that the absence in anthropoids of this 
cornu, of the hippocampus minor belonging to it, and of the 
occipital lobe in Avhich it is hollowed, constituted a distinct cha- 
racteristic separating the ape from Man. On more careful examina- 
tion, however, he altered his opinion. Man and the antlu^opoid ape 
in this respect are alike. 

A characteristic of Man has also been sought for in the pre- 
sence of the mammillary tubercles, little round bodies situated at 
the base of the brain, and whose use is unknown. Yain hope ! 
The chimpanzee, the orang, the gibbon, and the mone possess 
them. 

The convolutions are wanting in fishes, reptiles, and birds. They 
are absent in a considerable number of mammalia, are tolerably 
developed in others, and very much so in many, as the porpoise 
and the elephant. Mr. Owen has proposed to make them the basis 
of a fourfold classification: (1) Lyencephala, having the brain 
smooth and the optic lobes exposed ; (2) Lissencephala, having the 

I 2 



116 CONVOLUTIONS IN MAMMALIA. [Chap. hi. 

brain smootli, but with, the optic lobes concealed ; (3) Gyren- 
cephala, with but few convolutions; and (4) Archencephala, in 
which Man alone is placed. But the other -features of the organisa- 
tion do not move in parallelism with these characteristics, and the 
fourth class is only hypothetical.* 

Erasistratus of old ^vrote that the convolutions are more numerous 
in Man, because he is supreme as the possessor of a mind and 
reasoning power. A. Desmoulins, in 1825, maintained that the 
number and perfection of the intellectual faculties in species as in 
individuals, are in proportion to the extent of surface of the hemi- 
spheres, and that this is in direct ratio to the number and depth of 
the convolutions. M. Dareste started another proposition : that the 
convolutions were developed in a direct ratio to the stature, and that 
the smaller species most frequently have the brain smooth. Gratiolet 
took upon himself to refute him. Man, and then the orang, the 
chimpanzee, the seal, the bear, the dog, the elephant, have the most 
complex convolutions ; whilst in the insectivora, the rodents, and 
the marsupials, generally less intelligent, they are scarcely visible. 
^N'either the stature nor the volume of the body has anything to do 
with the question ; the smallest dog has more convolutions than the 
most gigantic kangaroo, the seal more than the ox. There are 
exceptions, but these are easily explained. The increased amount 
of the gray cortical substance of the hemispheres is what we must 
look for as evidence of a larger amount of activity. , We must look 
for (1) The increase of the cerebral mass, and consequently, cceteris 
jparihus, of its surface ; (2) The increase of the number of folds and 
windings, which allow of a much greater proportion of the gray 
substance being deposited in a given space; (3) The increase of 
the latter in thickness, and its improvement in quality. Unless 
we take account of all these elements we must not be surprised if 
there are exceptions, but the general fact remains — the amount of 
intelligence in mammalia is in proportion to the development of 
the convolutions. 

The consideration of the monkey tribe will now engage our 

* "The Anatomy of Vertebrates," vol. iii., "Mammals," by R. Owec. 
London, 1868. 



I 



Chap. III.] SIMIAN VAEIATIONS. 117 

attention. From the ouistiti, the lowest of the cebians, which has 
the brain smooth and only a trace of the fissure of Sylvius, to Man, 
every variety is to he met with. In the sagouins, some convolu- 
tions are visible. Their number increases rapidly in the highest 
cebians and the pithecians. In anthropoids, suddenly and almost 
without transition, they have a simdar appearance to those of Man. 
All the principal convolutions are there, the type is the same, the 
difierence is only in parts of a subordinate character, and in the de- 
gree of convolutions, which varies also in Man and is peculiar to him. 




Fig. 18. — Brain of pithecian— the guenon or cercopithecus— seen on its external surface, 
F, Frontal lobe ; T, Temporo-sphenoidal lobe ; O, Occipital lobe ; S, Fissure of 
Sylvius ; E, Fissure of Rolando ; V, External perpendicular fissure A A, Ascending 
frontal convolution; a.i, 0.2^ aS, First, second, and third antero-posterior frontal 
convolutions ; B, B, Ascending parietal convolution, giving origin behind to the 
superior parietal and the inferior parietal or curved fold, the latter turning round 
the fissure of Sylvivis and the parallel sulcus, as in Fig. 16 ; ci and c-, First and 
second external temporo-sphenoidal convolutions, separated by the parallel sulcus. 



"Between the smooth brain of ouistitis and the marvellously 
complicated brain of chimpanzees and orangs there is a gap," says 
M. Broca, "while there are but faint shadows of difference 
between the latter and that of Man ; " and further : " The enormous 

and complex mass of convolutions in Man is composed 

of the same fundamental folds, united by the same connections, and 
separated by the same sulci. These primary convolutions, these 
essential parts, common and only common to all human brains, are 



118 SIMIAN VARIATIONS. [Chap. iii. 

found without exception in the brains of the orang and the chim- 
panzee." That of the gorilla is but little known. "^^ 

A few words as to the changes which are exhibited as far as 
the inferior orders of cebians. 

The orbital region of the frontal lobe, which is flat in Man, is 
depressed in pithecians ; the sulcus of the olfactory nerve is want- 
ing ; the angle which terminates the third frontal convolution 
behind is rectilinear, which has interest with regard to the faculty 
of language. The first frontal convolution is simple, as in. the 
Hottentot Yenus of Cuvier, and the idiot studied by Gratiolet, 
while it is double in the orang and the chimpanzee, as in Man. 
The inferior parietal convolution should rather be called the curved 
fold, as it commences more in front and more distinctly curves 
round the terminations of the fissure of Sylvius and the parallel 
sulcus. The superior parietal convolution is very much reduced, 
particularly in the cynocephali. In the chimpanzee it forms a 
lobule as important as in Man. The external part of the perpen- 
dicular fissure is more open and more visible by the absence or the 
greater depth of the plis de passage of this region. It follows that • 
the occipital lobe throws up above it at its upper part an oper- 
culum, whose amount of projection is less characteristic of 
in*feriority. The central lobule, very smooth in Man, slightly so 
in the orang and chimpanzee, is smooth in the majority of pithe- 
cians and cebians, and is wanting in lemurs, as also in the other 
mammalia. 

The occipital lobe deserves especial notice. Its volume is 
generally in an inverse ratio to the number of the sulci and convo- 
lutions. Almost entirely smooth in cynocephali, its uniform sur- 
face contrasts so strongly with the rest of the cerebral surface in 
the macacque and the guenon, that Gratiolet compared it to a cap 
covering the posterior extremity of the brain. The contrast is less 
in some semnopitheci ; some gashes are seen, which are well marked 
in the gibbon, and become in the chimpanzees and the orang very 
nearly as complex as in Man. 

* Memoir already quoted, " Sur les Primates." 



Chap, hi.] PLIS DE PASSAGE. 119 

Owen discovered a cerebral characteristic of Man in the structure 
of his occipital lobe ; Gratiolet, in his second ])li cle passage, from 
the parietal to the occipital lobe. 

It is not a question of two inferior ]plis cle passage, they always 
exist. Thinner in gibbons and pithecians, they are thick in Man and 
the great anthropoid apes, and entirely fill up the inferior (or external) 
portion of the external perpendicular fissure. It is otherwise as 
regards the two superior ^^/s cle passage. They are superficial, deep, 
or altogether wanting, according to four types. (1) In Man and the 
ateles — the highest in the order of cebians — they are both superficial, 
hence the difiiculty that students have in discovering the external 
perpendicular fissure which they traverse. (2) The first is super- 
ficial and the second deep in the orang, the gibbon, and the semno- 
pitheci. (3) The first is wanting and the second is deep in the 
chimpanzee, the macaque, and the cynocephalus (the gorilla has not 
been studied in this respect). (4) Both are deep in the guenons. 
The three anthropoid apes which have been studied differ, then, 
from Man, in that the second fold is deep. There is some doubt as 
to the first fold being absent in the chimpanzee ; it was present in 
the subjects studied by EoUeston, Marshall, and Turner. Notably, 
in two, the first fold was present on one side and not on the other ; 
while, by way of compensation, the second was deep on one side 
but superficial on the other : according to M. Eroca it should 
always exist on one side or the other. Moreover, in Man, even in 
individuals of sound mind, one of the superior plis cle passage may 
be deep on one side or wanting, and the other at the same time be 
feebly developed. Does not all this prove that these are only 
changes or gradations of development from the healthy man to the 

. anthropoids, the cebians, and the pithecians ? Eelative to anthro- 
poids we can only come to one conclusion, namely, that they are 
not more separated from Man by the character of their plis cle pas- 
sage than from the monkeys next in order, and that in this, as well 

- as in everything relating to the convolutions, they are found to take 
their place with Man at the head of the series. 

If the differences hitherto estabhshed in the morphology and 

. anatomy of the brain of Man, as compared with that of animals, are 



120 WEIGHT OF THE BEAIN. [Ciiap. in. 

not sucli as we should have desired, what we are about to say with, 
respect to its weight and mass, and what we have aheady said on 
the subject of the cranial capacity, Avill be sufficient to satisfy the 
warmest advocates of human supremacy. 

The weight of the encephalon varies in the adult man of sound 
mind from 1,830 grammes, which was the weight of Cuvier's 
brain, to 872, which is that of a Bosjeswoman studied in England 
by Mr. Marshall : but these are exceptional cases. According to 
Huschke, its mean weight, at the age of 30 or 40 years, in the 
white race, and when the organ has attained its full growth, is 
about 1,410 in men, and 1,272 in women. The weight varies, 
moreover, according to height, sex, age, intelligence,, and occupa- 
tion. Let us rapidly run over the principal results obtained on 
these points, in order that we may not have again to recur to 
them.* 

The encephalon is heavier in tall persons than in short. In five 
men having a mean stature of 1 '74 metre, the brain was 96 grammes 
heavier than in five other short men, whose mean stature was 1*63 
metre. The difference of weight was 6 per cent., and corresponded 
exactly with the difference of stature. The same result has been 
obtained in reference to women. 

The brain is lighter in the woman than in the man : the former 
weigliing 100, cceteris paribus, the latter would weigh 112, accord- 
ing to Huschke. This difference is only attributable to the fact 
that usually she is less in height. Parchappe has shown that 
the height of the woman is to that of the man as 9.2-7 to 100; 
whilst the weight of her brain would be as 90*9 to 100. The 
brain, then, is lighter in the woman, and we may add, that it is so 
at all ages. 

The tables constructed by Eroca, with materials furnished by 

* " Sur le Poids du Cerveau," by Lelut, in " Journal des Conn. Medico. 
Chirurg.," vol. v., Paris, 1837 ; " Eecherches siir I'Encephale," by Parcliappe, 
Paris, 1836 ; " Ueber die Typischen Yerschiedenlieiten der Windungen der 
Hemispharen und iiber die Lebre vom Hirngewicbt," by Eud. Wagner, 
Gottingen, 1860; "Discussion sur le Cerveau," by Broca, Gratiolet, 
Dareste, &c., in " Bull. Soc. d'Antbrop.," vol. ii,, 1861. 



Chap. III.] WEIGHT OF THE BEAIN. 121 

Wagner, of the weight of 347 healthy brains, prove that this organ 
goes on increasing up to 40 years of age, that it remains stationary 
np to 50, and decreases afterwards. After the age of 60 years men 
had lost from 5 to 7 per cent, of maximum weight, and women 
from 4 to 7. Gratiolet has shown that the cranium of the- infant 
is more elongated at birth, that it enlarges subsequently in the 
temporal regions, and that it goes on developing in front : it ought 
to be the same with the brain. 

The brain increases, cceteris parihus, in proportion to the vas- 
cular activity of which it is the seat. This is the reason that 
the brain of certain criminals and lunatics is so large. But of all 
the kinds of activity, that which has reference to the special design 
of the organ has the most influence. Such is physiological acti^dty, 
of which intelligence is the result. The weights taken by Lelut, 
Parchappe, and Wagner, clearly show this. The labouring men 
studied by Parchappe had the head longer than his " distinguished 
men." So with the internes of the hospital of Bicetre measured by 
M. Broc^, relatively to the officers of the institution. The cranial 
capacity of Parisians from the twelfth to the nineteenth century, 
has increased to such an. extent that we may be allowed to attribute 
it to the progress of civilisation. The cranial capacity is greater, 
cceteris ]parihus, in the white race, less generally in the negro races, 
less still in the lowest among them. The brains of idiots, and of the 
insane in lunatic asylums, are smaller and lighter than those of the 
emxjloyes and ordinary sick, or of persons suffering from acute mania. 
The enormous Aveight of Cuvier's brain is in itself an argument, ^o 
less remarkable, though less largely developed, were the brains of 
Abercrombie, of Bruce, of Dupuytren, and other eminent persons, 
as recorded by Wagner. The reason that the brain of the woman 
is lighter than that of the man is that she has less cerebral activity 
to exercise in her sphere of duty. In former times it was relatively 
larger in the department of Lozere, because there the woman and 
the man mutually shared the burden of their daily labour. The 
truth is, that the weight of the brain increases with the use which 
we make of that organ, with the exercise of certain professions ; in 
a word, with the degree of intelligence. The absolute mean weight 



122 EELATIVE WEIGHT OF THE BRAIX. [Chap. in. 

of the brain at its maxiiniiin of growth., in men, is, in round 
numbers, about 1,400 grammes, in women about 1,250. With 
some few exceptions it is the heaviest of the mammalian series. 
We wiU give the figures farther on. 

They would, however, be of little value as regards the majority 
of mammalia if we did not take account of the stature or weight 
of the body. M. Sappey estimates the weight of the brain of 
the elephant to be from 1,500 to 1,600 grammes, and that of 
the dolphin about 1,800; and then it would be in proportion 
to the weight of the body as 1 to 1,500 in the former, and 
1 to 100 in the latter ; while in Man it is as 1 to 36, ac- 
cording to Cuvier, and 1 to 52 according to Colin. This may 
be so, but we do not think these figures are to be thoroughly 
relied on ; for the brain of a young Asiatic elephant in M. Broca's 
laboratory weighed double, that is to say, 3,080 grammes ; the 
greater reason why we should take into our calculation the stature 
of the animal. In the list published by Cuvier, the weight of the 
brain being 1, that of the body is from 48 to 105 in the ordinary 
monkeys; from 97 to 365 in the carnivora ; from 520 to 800 in 
marsupials ; from 750 to 800 in two oxen. In a gibbon, according 
to M. Leuret,* it was 48, and in another, in M. Broca's laboratory, 
18 "7. Most fortunately, we are able to make a direct comparison 
between Man and the three higher anthropoids. If, on the average, 
they are a little less in stature, they are, on the other hand, stouter, 
so that the body, taken as a whole, agrees as nearly as possible. 
The anthropoid is generally a little more bulky, which, cceteris 
paribus, would necessitate his having rather a larger brain. It is 
true that we have not had an opportunity of weighing the brains 
of the great apes in a fresh state, but we may estimate the weight 
sufficiently accurately by the cranial capacity, f Mr. Huxley thinks 
that the Aveight of the brain of the gorilla may reach 567 grammes, 
.and M. Broca found that the weight of the one the cubic measure- 

* See " Anatomy of the Nervous System," by Leuret, vol. i., 1839, and 
tlie table at page 124. 

f Mr. Owen, however, weigbed tbe fresh brain of a gorilla : it was ! 
ounces = 425'19 grammes. 



€hap. III.] PROPOETIOX OP THE BRAIN. 123 

iiient of whose cranium lie made with M. Alix, was 540 grammes. 
We ourselves should estimate that the mean, without reference to 
sex, would be below 475 in the gorilla, and much lower still in the 
orang and chimpanzee. 



Proportions of different Parts of the Enceplialon. 

M. Baillarger has attempted to estimate the absolute extent of 
isurface of the convolutions which is covered, by the gray substance. 
He found it to be 1,700 square centimetres in Man, and 24 in the 
Tab bit. M. Hermann Wagner calculated the amount of superficies 
in each lobe relatively to the total superficies of the brain. It is to 
be feared that the result of these efforts has not been of much im- 
portance, though they should be encouraged. The following are 
the mean proportions obtained by M. Wagner : 





Man. 


Orang. 


Frontal lobe 


43-6 


36-8 


Parietal lobe 


16-9 


25-1 


Temporal lobe 


21-8 


19-6 


Occipital lobe 


17-7 


18-5 


Total surface 


.. 1000 


... 100-0 



We have more to expect from the relation of the cerebellum to 
the hemispheres. The weight of the former in the man is about 
179 grammes, and in the woman 147 grammes, according to Par- 
chappe, and 176 in Man, according to Lelut. This weight being 
expressed by 1, that of the hemispheres would be 15*5 in the man, 
and 13 '9 grammes in the woman, according to Parchappe, and 15*5 
also in the man, according to Lelut. It is the same with animals : 
in the saimiri it is 14 ; mone, 8 ; magot, papion, and coita, 7 ; ouistiti, 
6-3; macauco, 4-5j gibbon, 4-4 grammes, among apes: and the 
hedgehog, 12; hare, 14-3; ox, 9; horse, 7; sheep, 5; mouse, 2, 
among the mammalia (Leicret). It follows from this that the 
human cerebellum is lighter in proportion to the weight of the 
brain, and if we put aside three of the 44 examples of Leuret, 
that Man would be found to have the advantage in this respect, as 



124 PEOPOETION OF THE CEEEBELLUM. [Chap. hi. 

well as with regard to the entire weight of the encephalon. At- 
tempts have been made to compare the weight of the encephalon 
with that of the spinal cord =1*10, but the comparison has not 
been carried out in Man. The following figures, borrowed from 
M. Colin, have been drawn up in reference to this question, and 
to those preceding as to domestic animals : 





Weight of 
encephalon. 


Weight of the 

body. 
Encephalon = 1. 


Weight of the 
two hemispheres. 
Cerebellum = 1. 


Weight of the 

encephalon. 

Spinal cord = 1. 


15 stallions . 


633 


633 


6-9 


2-3 


15 mares 


. 598 


583 


7-4 


2-3 


17 dogs 


83 


212 


8-5 


.. ■ 4-7 


5 cats 


28 


106 


6-1 


3-4 


3 oxen 


. 509 


648 


8-2 


2-4 


4 ass|| 
3 hogf 


. 368 


332 


7-2 


2-9 


. 123 


659 


7-5 


2-3 



One of M. Colin's conclusions deserves to be considered side by 
side with that arrived at by M. Dareste. He says the smaller 
species of animals have the brain more developed than the larger. 
The mouse, for example, has, in proportion to his body, more brain 
than Man, and thirteen times more than the horse, and eleven 
times more than the elephant. M. Dareste infers that the smaller 
species generally have the brain smooth. The two propositions 
mutually agree. The convolutions have less tendency to be 
developed in the smaller species, supposing the fact proved : because 
their brain is larger, this was superfluous. Thus the same result is 
arrived at by different methods of proceeding. 

Lastly, Soemmering has conceived the idea of comparing the 
brain with the nerves which proceed from it. The relative volume 
of the former would be considerably greater in Man; the apes 
would come next. " The largest horse's brain that I have weighed," 
. says he, " was one pound and seven ounces, and the smallest man's, 
two pounds five ounces and a quarter, notwithstanding that the 
nerves at the base were ten times larger in the former, although the 
difference in weight between the two brains was at least fourteen 
ounces and a quarter." 



Chap, hi.] MEASUREMENT OF THE BRAIN. 125 

Measurement of tlie Brain. 

This has not yet been practised to any extent except on animals. 
Soemmering and Ebel have compared the width of the medulla 
oblongata, at its union with the protuberantia annularis, with the 
maximum width of the brain. Leuret has taken the relative 
dimensions and situation of the corpus callosum and the cerebellum. 
Cuvier has given the width, the height, and the maximum length 
of the brain in 38 mammals. Leuret applied himself to the width 
in relation to the length, taking his measurements, not on the 
brain, but on the interior of the cranial cavity. We can speak 
highly of this method, when we employ the special instruments 
invented by M. Broca, which allow of all the details being measured 
without injuring the skull by making a section. In a first group, 
including the kangaroo, the guinea-pig, and the beaver, the two 
diameters are equal ; in a second, consisting of the majority of 
the rodents, the elephant, the porpoise, and the whale, the trans- 
verse diameter is greater than the antero-posterior ; in a third, 
embracing the monkey tribe, the carnivora, the solipeds, and the 
juminants, the antero-posterior diameter is the longer, as in Man. 

The relation of these two diameters, the transverse and the 
:antero-posterior, is worthy, in our opinion, to have a place assigned 
to it in Zoological Anthropology, under the name of cerebral index. 
A few calculations from Leuret's tables are subjoined. 

Papio (mandril) ... 



Mandril 

Macauco (maki) ... 

Horse 

White bear 

Guinea-pig 

Phascolomys (wombat) . 

Porcupine... 

Whale 

3 dogs 

3 kangaroos 

2 seals ... ... 

3 bats 

2 elephants 



75-8 




80-3 




83-2 




86-3 




84-5 




84-5 




100-0 




102-5 




128-1 




146-7 




75-0 to 


99-9 


86-2 „ 


100-0 


97-5 „ 


112-5 


122-2 „ 


125-0 


136-9 „ 


146-7 



J 



126 EUDIMENTARY ORGANS. [Chap, ir 

Three forms of hrain, then, would find place in the mammalian 
series, as there are three sorts of human crania — viz. the long, the 
intermediate, and the hroad. But here the lines of demarcation 
between each form would be changed. Those which we should 
call dolichocephali (long heads) would be beloAV 90, the mesati- 
cephali (middle heads), from 90 to 110, and the brachycephali 
(short heads), above 110. 

Rudimentarij Organs and Reversive Anomalies. 

In the necessarily rapid examination which we have just made 
of tfee characters by which Man differs from or approaches to- 
animals, we have only taken into consideration those which are 
constant and exist in all individuals. But there are others which 
unexpectedly make their appearance in all the races of Man, and 
more frequently in those reputed inferior, concerning which we 
ought to say a few words. We refer to what are called the rudimen- 
tary organs, and anomalies. In the hypothesis of a transformation 
by a certain process from forms relatively inferior into those of a. 
higher and more perfect character, they take the name of reversions, 
Avhich is meant to convey the idea of a relationship in the past 
between organisms now divergent, and bearing upon the question 
of the affinity of Man with the other mammalia. 

As examples of rudimentary organs in animals we may mention 
the germs of teeth in the foetus of the whale, and those of the upper 
incisors in ruminants, although these organs are never developed, 
and appear to be useless; the teats of all male quadrupeds; the 
eyes of sightless animals, or those species which pass their lives in 
dark caverns, or inhabit the fathomless depths of the ocean ; the 
two needle-like ossicles on the sides of the single metacarpal or 
metatarsal bone of the horse, which represent the other meta- 
carpals or metatarsals which have disappeared ; &c. 

Examples are numerous in Mail. • The semilunar fold at the 
internal angle of the eye, so marked in some persons, woidd repre- 
sent the remains of the third eyelid of marsupials, the walrus, &c. 



I 



CiiAP. III.] EEYERSIVE ANOMALIES. 127 

The vermicular appendix of the large intestine, which seems useless^ 
and is occasionally the cause of death, is the representative of an 
organ which is enormous in herbivorous animals, and in the koala 
attains a length thre e times that of the body. The muscles of the 
ear, equally useless, although sufficiently developed in some indi- 
viduals to enable them to move the cartilage, are merely vestiges 
of a very well-marked apparatus in animals. The sub-vomerian 
bone of Eambaud, in like manner, is the remains of the organ of 
Jacobson, and is very much developed in the horse, as also in some 
apes, &c. Anomalies are still more frequent in Man. We may 
mention the bifid, and even the double uterus ; the former repeating, 
the horned uterus of the rodent, or the elongated and angular uterus 
seen in some ordinary monkeys and lemurs ; the latter the double 
uterus with two orifices of marsupials. We may mention the per- 
sistence in the adult of the suture which divides the malar bones 
into two, as in some apes and other mammalia ; that of the median 
frontal suture, as in the majority of the lower mammalia ; the ap- 
pearance, once in a hundred times, according to Mr. Turner, of the 
super-condylean humeral foramen peculiar to various animals, 
through which the principal nerve and artery of the limb pass ; 
the altogether simian conformation' of the cartilage of the ear ; &g. 

In the muscles especially reversions are common. Traces of the 
cutaneous muscle are seen in the armpits and on the scapulae, as 
Avell as on the head and face ; the sternal muscle of mammalia was 
seen in 18 out of 600 men; the ischio-pubic muscle, constant in 
the majority of male animals, was noticed in 19 out of 40 men, and 
in 2 out of 30 women ; the elevator claviculse of most apes in 1 
out of 60. M. Chadzinski, in the " Eevue d' Anthropologic," has^ 
given many examples of simian arrangements in Man. Mr. J, 
Wood found in one individual as many as seven examples of 
muscles peculiar to certain apes. 

Whatever interpretation may be given to these facts, they estab- 
lish a link between the type of organisation of Man and that of 
animals. A third order of facts has been brought together, namely^ 
those which we term teratological, and of which we shall speak by- 
and-by. 



128 DEVELOPMENT OF THE BODY. [Chap. iv. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS DEVELOPMENT OF THE BODY 

EMBRYOGENY, SUTURES AND EPIPHYSES, TEETH DETERMINA- 
TION OF THE AGE AND SEX OP THE SKELETON GENERAL AND 

SPECIAL FUNCTIONS PSYCHICAL MANIFESTATIONS, FACULTY OF 

EXPRESSION. 

Hitherto we have been engaged with anatomical characters, that 
is to say, with those relating to the organs as seen after death. 
We shall now consider the physiological, or those exhibited in the 
living subject, the result of the growth and development of those 
organs. Their history commences from the period when the first 
lineaments of organisation were planned, continues through the 
various phases of existence, and exhibits to us Man moving and 
thinking, up to the period when motion and thought cease. 



Development — Age. 

Our first entrance into life is unostentatious, and in no Avay 
differs from that of animals. Enclosed in an ovum of the same 
character as that of all the oviparous or viviparous mammalia, 
nothing then distinguishes the future monarch from the humblest 
pariah — the lord of creation from the ape or the kangaroo. The 
researches of Wolf in 1759, of Oken in 1806, of Baer in 1819, 
of Coste, &c., have put this beyond contradiction. 

The ovum at first is a simple cell, a microscopic point, which is 
composed of an albuminous substance, or vitellus, and of a nucleus, 
or germinal vesicle, enclosing within it a nucleolus, or germinal 
spot. Under this form it is thrown off from the ovaries, traverses 
the oviduct, passes into the uterus, and, if it becomes fecundated, 
is there developed. The cell then becomes divided into two, into 
four, and gradually into an infinite number of cells, which increase 
at the periphery and assume the form of a hollow sphere. At one 



Chap. IV.] DEYELOPMENT OF THE BODY. 129 

point there afterwards appears an opacity, wliicli becomes elongated 
and divided into three leaflets. This is the rudiment of the future 
being, whether man or dog. The external leaflet will become the 
skin and cerebro-spinal axis, the internal the digestive mucous 
membrane, the middle the parenchyma from which the various 
organs are formed. The multiplication of cells continuing, a 
primitive line is drawn, which has at one of its extremities an en- 
largement, upon which before long are seen live ampullae. The 
line is the spinal cord, the enlargement is the brain, the anterior 
ampulla will be the hemispheres, the second the optic thalamus, the 
third the tubercula quadrigemina, the fourth the cerebellum, and 
the fifth the medulla oblongata. 

According to the variable development of these rudiments, 
results, by degrees, the special genus or species. At the fourth 
week the difference between the Man and the dog is inappreciable. 
The divergence only commences in earnest at the eighth Aveek. In 
the human foetus the anterior ampulla becomes larger, in the foetus 
of the dog the caudal extremity elongates. 

At birth the infant weighs from 3 to 4 kilogrammes, and is 
50 centimetres in length; his pulse is 140 in the minute j a 
fine down covers his body; his pupils are generally open as 
soon as respiration becomes fully established ; the thymus gland, 
an organ exclusively foetal, atrophies. He takes the breast up 
to the second or third year, or rather until the sixteen or 
twenty milk teeth have appeared. During the period of infancy 
the pulse ranges from 100 to 110, the respiration becomes propor- 
tionately slower, its movements being in relation to the heart's 
pulsations as 1 to 3. At about 14 years, in our climates, puberty takes 
place in the boy ; his features become altered, the voice changes, the 
beard developes, and most important modifications take place in the 
genital organs. At the same time, in the girl, the breasts increase 
in size, the menses make their appearance. At 20 years adult age 
is attained ; growth still goes on ; the brain continues to be 
developed in proportion to its exercise, and attains its maximum of 
activity at or before 35 years. Soon decadence commences ; the 
faculty of reproduction in the man becomes diminished. In woman 

K 



130 GROWTH OF THE BRAIN". [Chap. iv. 

the liair turns white and falls off ; the teeth become loosened from 
their sockets ; the crystalline lens is flattened, causing the eye to 
hecome presbyopic ; the senses become dull ; the lung is emphy- 
sematous, the heart hypertrophied ; the arteries become ossified; 
fat is infiltrated through the tissues, and death takes place naturally, 
without any struggle, from the moment that one of the three prin- 
cipal organs of organic life — the heart, the lung, or the digestive 
tube — loses the power to perform its function.''^ 

Except in some trifling particulars, this is the same as regards all 
mammalia. The organisation of Man, of the anthropoid ape, or of 
the carnivora, obeys the same physiological laws, and passes through 
three similar periods : one of groAvth, one of full development — 
during which the process of reproduction goes on^ — and one of 
decay. These periods are of longer or shorter duration — that is the 
only difference. Of all these phenomena, those which are exhibited 
on the skeleton have the greatest amount of interest for the anthro- 
pologist. It is by a thorough acquaintance with them that we 
determine with accuracy the age of bones, a problem not less im- 
portant for the antliropologist in his laboratory than for the 
archaeologist who is desirous of ascertaining the date of his fossils. 

A few words, however, as to the head. Its proportions relatively 
to the body during the earliest periods of embryonic existence, or 
even at birth, are not what they are at a later period. At the 
second month of intra-uterine life the head forms one-half, at 
birth one-quarter, and at adult age one-eighth part of the entire 
body. The same may be said as regards the contents of the brain- 
case. 

Groiutli of the Brain. 

Throughout the whole of the mammalian series this organ is 

* M. Broca divides tlie periods of human life as follows : First infancy 
from birth, to the end of the sixth year, when the first large permanent 
molar is cut ; second infancy, from 7 to 14 years, on the eruption of the 
second molars ; youth, from 14 to 25 years, when the basilar suture is 
ossified, or the wisdom tooth is cut; adult age, from 25 to 40, when the 
cerebral sutures begin to ossify ; ripe age, from 4 ' to 60 ; old age, beyond 
60 years. In craniometry, we designate, in a general way, under the name 
of adult, crania in which the basilar suture is closed. 



Chap, iv.] OSSIFICATION OF THE CRANIAL SUTURES. 



131 



smaller relatively to the rest of the body at birth, than at the period 
of its complete development. In the newly-born marsupial, Mr. 
Owen says it is less large in proportion than in the upper classes 
of mammalia. 

The following figures of M. Welcker exhibit the cranial capacity 
in Man at different ages, and consequently the progressive volume 
of his brain : 



New-born infant.. 

At 2 months 

At 1 year 

At 3 years 

At 10 years 

From 20 to 60 years 



Men. 
Centimetres. 


Women. 
Centimetres 


. 400 ... 


... 360 


. 540 ... 


510 


. 900 ... 


... 850 


. 1080 ... 


... 1010 


. 1360 ... 


... 1250 


. 1450 ... 


... 1300 



In anthropoids the development is less rapid : we are ignorant 
as to their cranial capacity at birth, but during the first dentition, 
in eight orangs, it was found to be 322 cubic centimetres, while in 
15 adults of the same species it was 413. Supposing, then, that 
their first dentition takes place at the mean age of two years, the 
cranial capacity would increase 31 per cent, in Man from this period 
to adult age, and 22 per cent, only in the orang. 

To obviate the numerous disorders to which so considerable a " 
development of the brain would give rise, owing to the resistance 
of the walls of the cranium, the sutures which unite the bones 
preserve their softness a much longer time in Man, and do not 
begin to ossify until a late period, when there is no longer any 
probability of the increase of the contents, and when cerebral 
activity is becoming less. This leads us to speak of the action of 
the sutures, and of the chief means of ascertaining the age of a 
cranium. 



Ossification of the Cranial Sutures. 

The bones pass through three phases, corresponding to the three 
periods of life. In the first, the bone is soft, then cartilaginous ; 
in the second, it is osseous, and continues so in every part ; in the 

K 2 



132 OSSIFICATION OF THE CEANIAL SUTURES. [Chap. iv. 

thirdj or senile period, it becomes more dense, although lighter and 
more fragile, the diploe in the flat bones is more spongy, the 
medullary canal in the long bones is of greater diameter, and the 
cells at their extremities are larger. Between the first and second 
period there is one of transition, during which points or centres of 
ossification appear in the middle of the cartilage, which gradually 
become larger and larger, and at last occupy the entire bone. These 
points are of two descriptions — the principal ones for the body, or 
diaphysis ; the secondary for the extremities, or epiphyses, and the 
prominences or processes. 

In the skull, the points of ossification first appear in the centres 
which correspond with the bodies of the three cranial vertebrae — the 
basilar process of the occipital, the posterior sphenoid and the 
anterior sphenoid, then in the lateral bones and in those of the 
vault. It is well to know the period at which the secondary 
portions become united, so as to be enabled to judge, in certain 
circumstances, if the development has proceeded regularly. Thus : 

At the third month of fcetaL life the two superior points of the 
occipital shell become united to the two inferior. What we call 
the interparietal suture is closed. 

At the eighth or ninth month of foetal life the body of the 
anterior sphenoid is united to the body of the posterior sphenoid. 

About two months after birth, the false suture which separates 
the basilar portion of the occipital from the two condylean portions 
is closed. 

About the fifth or sixth months the body of the posterior 
sphenoid is united to the greater wings. 

About a year, the three portions of the temporal — the petrous, 
the mastoid, and the squamous — become anchylosed. The two 
halves of the frontal also. The suture which they form when 
they are persistent in the adult, is called the medio-frontal, or 
metopic. We have noticed this abnormal persistence in 58 out of 
611 Parisian skulls which we have examined = 1 in 9-65. 

About the third or fourth year, the styloid process becomes 
united to the temporal, unless it continues separated from it during 
the remainder of life. 



i 



Chap, iv.] OSSIFICATION OF THE CRANIAL SUTURES. 133 

About the fifth, or sixth year, the suture which separates the 
external occipital portion of the occipital shell is closed. 

The true sutures are the coronal, the sagittal, the lambdoidal, 
the temporal, and the spheno-parietal, spaces being formed at their 
junction, which are designated by the name of fontanelles. The 
exact period at which the process of ossification is completed at 
their edges is doubtful The sagittal and coronal sutures close 
very soon after birth, and before those of the base. The bregmatic 
fontanelle, except in cases of disease, is always closed before two- 
and-a-half years of age according to M. Bouvier, and sooner 
according to M. Eroca. 

The suture which unites the occipital to the sphenoid is 
sometimes wanting in animals, sometimes it remains persistent 
through the whole of life : in Man it passes immediately from 
the cartilaginous to the osseous state at from 18 to 22 years of 
age. 

All these data serve to determine the age, but it is at their third 
phase, when other parts of the body fail to give us any information, 
that the examination of the sutures becomes valuable. 

At this moment' the serratures become obliterated, the bones 
which are in contact become anchylosed, the suture is synostosed. 
This synostosis, one of the first signs of age in the skeleton, may in 
some cases be produced more quickly by disease. There is, then, 
no adult or stationary condition of the suture, and the younger the 
individual the more serious the disorders which result from it as 
regards the development of the cranium and the brain. We shall 
consider this subject further when speaking as to pathological 
characters. The spot where synostosis first appears during the 
progress of age varies. The most frequent is at a point on the 
sagittal, at the union of its posterior fifth with its anterior three- 
fifths, where the suture is clearly marked, ohelion. At other times 
it is at the extremities of the coronal, near the temporal ridge, or 
lower down, at the junction of the four sutures, in the form of the 
letter H. The second or third spot is on the lambdoidal suture, 
the synostosis appearing at first in the middle of one of its 
branches, or as an extension of the sagittal ossification. The fourth 



134 OSSIFICATION OF THE CEANIAL SUTUEES. [Chap, iv, 

point is the coronal suture, close to the bregma. The fifth is on 
the squamous suture of the temporal.'* 

In a word, if the suture is entire, the individual is about 35 
years of age or less. If the posterior sagittal point is commencing 
to close he is about 40 years. The ossification of the coronal 
suture close to the bregma would show that he was 60 or more. 
If the temporal suture is closed he would be 66 or more. As 
regards intermediate and subsequent ages we examine as to the 
extent to which complete closure has taken place at each spot, and 
also as to other matters, of which we are about to speak. 

The definite period of ossification of the sutures moreover varies 
very considerably. It sometimes takes place partially and very 
early in life ; at others it is retarded. The more the brain is 
exercised the more it is postponed, according to M. Broca. In 
idiots it takes place early. It varies according to race. In the 
white races the ossification generally proceeds from behind for- 
wards. In the negro races it is the reverse, according to Gratiolet, 
that is to say from before backwards. This latter statement is 
somewhat hasty ; and without going so far as to deny it, we should 
say it cannot be looked upon as universally the case. 

If the brain-case at the period of birth is very large, the face, on 
the other hand, is small, and makes increase, especially in the 
maxillary region, as is sho^vn by the enlargement of the facial angle 
and of the angle of prothagnism, from infancy to adult age. The 
development for the most part takes place in the alveolar arches, at 
the part corresponding with the molars of the second dentition ; 
they become elongated from behind forwards, and increase in height 
and thickness. 

A phenomenon the reverse of this takes place when the teeth 
fall out naturally in the progress of age ; the edges of the alveoli 
come nearer together and become absorbed, and the alveolar border 
loses its height and thickness. Two anatomical results are the 
consequence : (1) The mental foramen, situated in the adult at an 

* See " Eecherclies sur I'Etat Senile du Crane," by E. Saurage. Paris, 
1870. 



Chap, it.] EVOLUTION OF THE TEETH. 135 

equal distance from, or a little nearer to, tlie two "borders of the 
bone, appears in the old man gradually to come nearer to the 
superior, a circumstance of which M. Broca has taken particular 
notice in his interesting memoir, published in 1848, on the bones 
of Celestines. (2) The angle which the horizontal makes with the 
posterior branch of the lower jaw becomes widened, and has a 
tendency to return to that which it was in infancy. This angle at 
birth is from 170 to 160 degrees; it descends to 150 and 130 
during the first dentition; then to 115 degrees during the second 
dentition ; approaches a right angle during the adult period, and 
returns to 130 and 140 degrees in old age {Humxjliry). Thence a 
series of characteristics which, even in solitary maxillae, enables us 
to ascertain approximately the age of the individual. Besides 
those furnished by the cranial sutures, there are others drawn from 
the eburnification, or the unequal atrophy of the malformed 
cranium, as well as those from the teeth : all appearances on the 
head, so probably indicative of the same fact as regards age, as to 
be looked upon as certainties. 

The maxillary apparatus is not the only portion of the face which 
assumes various alterations of phase during life. The brain cavities 
do the same in a less degree. Thus the frontal sinuses connected 
with the olfactory apparatus are rudimentary in the infant, very 
largely developed in the adult, and become atrophied in old age. 
All the sinuses of the face, moreover, including the mastoid cells, 
obey the same law — they do not arrive at their full development 
until after puberty. 

Evolution of tlie Teeth. 

Of all the methods in use for the purpose of determining the age 
of a cranium, particularly before the adult period, those derived 
from the examination of the teeth are the most satisfactory. Their 
evolution is divided into two periods, the more important to define, 
in that we have no other data from which to form an idea as to the 
relative age of the monkeys imported into Europe. The duration 
of the first period in Man is about 24 months, when the whole of 
the milk or temporary teeth are cut; that of the second is six 



136 



ERUPTION OF THE TEETH. 



[Chap. iy. 



years, when the permanent teeth appear. The wisdom teeth we do 
not take into consideration, as often they are not cut at all. The 
following tahle shows the mean period of the eruption of each 
tooth. It thus appears that from three to five years Man has the 
minimum nimiher of 20 teeth ; from seven to twelve, 24 ; from 
fourteen to sixteen, 28 ; and later on, the maximum number, 32, 
not reckoning anomalies in the shape of supernumerary teeth. 



Eruption of the Teeth in Man. 
Temporary or Deciduous Teeth = 20. 





Cruveilhier. 


Magitot. 


Incisors, middle lower 


4tli to 10th month . 


6 months 


„ „ upper 


A little after ... 


10 „ 


„ lateral lower 


8th to 16th month 


16 „ 


„ „ upper 


A little after ... 


20 „ 


Molars, first small, lower... 


15th to 24th month 


24 „ 


„ „ „ upper.. 


— — 


26 „ 


Canine 


20th to 30th month 


30 to 32 „ 


Molars, second small, lower 


28th to 40th month 


28 „ 


,, „ „ upper 


— — 


30 „ 


Pj 


REMANENT TeETH = 32. 






Cruveilhier. 


Magitot. 


Molars, first large 


7 years ... 


5 to 6 years. 


Incisors, middle, lower . . 


6 to 8 „ ... 


7 „ 


„ „ upper .. 


V „ 9 „ ... 


— 


,, lateral 


8 „ 10 „ ... 


8i „ 


Molars, first small 


9 „ 11 „ ... 


9 „ 11 „ 


„ second small 


11 „ 13 „ ... 


11 „ 


Canine 


10 „ 11 „ ..- 


11 „ 12 „ 


Molars, second large 


12 „ 14 „ ... 


12 „ 13 „ 


„ third large, or den 


es 




sa'pientia; 


18„ 30 „ ... 


18 „ 25 „ 



With the skull before us it is generally easy to determine the 
age before 18 years. Sometimes, in the interval between the two 
periods of eruption, search must be made at the bottom of the 
alveolus, or we must judge from the projection of the anterior sur- 
face of the alveolar border, as to the time when the tooth is about 
to make its appearance. In old age, when the teeth naturally fall 



Chap, iv.] CHARACTERS OF THE TEETH. 137 

out, we should look to see how far the alveolus is closed or filled 
up. The molars fall out iirst. We may guess the probable age on 
the inferior maxilla by the number of empty alveoli, by the 
amount of absorption of the alveolar arches, and by the senile 
indications already mentioned. 

There is another method of ascertaining the age, namely, by 
examining the amount of wear and tear of the teeth. The 
deciduous as well as the permanent teeth wear out, but the latter 
more so, on account of their much greater length of use. The 
molars and canines are generally the most Avorn, but in the inferior 
or prehistoric races the incisors are frequently worn down one-half 
or four-fifths of their height. M. Broca lays do'wn four degrees of 
wear : in the first, the enamel is alone worn ; in the second, the 
tubercles of the crown have disappeared and the ivory is exposed ; 
in the third, some portion of the height of the tooth is reduced ; in 
the fourth, the wear has extended to the neck. The last is seen in 
old age, but it is more often the result of particular habits, as that 
of chewing the betel-nut, among the Malays, or working with the 
teeth on skins, among the Esquimaux. The tubercles of the first 
molar are soon worn down, occasionally by the commencement of 
adult age ; those of the second molar are more persistent. 

In a word, the determination of the age of a cranium is reduced 
to a balancing of probabilities : the condition of the sutures deciding 
the question in one way, the wearing away of the teeth or the 
character of the jaw in another : we should take the mean. At two 
or five years one can scarcely be deceived ; taking the period from 
22 to 38 years it is more difiicult to decide. 

Distinctive Characters of the Teeth. 

We cannot conclude this chapter without stating the principles 
by the guidance of which the arch^ologist or the anthropologist 
may discover the alveolus to which any isolated tooth belongs. 
The teeth of the second dentition interest us most in this respect. 
The four kinds may be recognised as follows : the incisors are sharp 
at the edges, the canines have a single and conical point, the small 



138 DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS OF THE TEETH. [Chap, iv^ 

and large molars a fiat and tnberculated crown. The difficulty ia 
to know to wliicli jaw and to which, side of the jaw they helong. 

In a general way," the teeth of the upper jaw are larger thaa 
those of the lower, with the exception of the large molars, where 11 
is often the reverse. The incisors may he recognised in the sam^ 
way ; the middle incisors of the upper jaw, and the lateral of the 
loAver, are the largest. The upper canines are not only larger but 
longer. 

The second character has a certain value. The curve which th( 
superior dental arch describes is wider than the inferior, and iti 
posterior branches are turned outwards, while those of the inferioi 
arch are turned inwards. It follows from this that the two archei 
do not exactly agree, the upper incisors passing a little in front ol 
the lower, and the crown of the upper molars overlapping, on the 
outside, the crown of the lower. The wearing away, then, of anj 
one or more molars begins on the inner side on the upper jaw, and 
on the outer on the lower. Hence, also, the plane of this wearing 
down is considerably oblique inwardly as regards the upper teethj 
and oblique outwardly as regards the lower. For the same reason 
the sharp border of the lower incisors is worn slopingly on the 
anterior surface, which causes them to be easily recognised. 

The third character has reference to all the teeth, but especi- 
ally to the incisors and canines, and then to the small molars. 
Of the two lateral surfaces of the tooth, the internal — when we are 
speaking of the front teeth — or anterior, when speaking of the 
side teeth — is relatively plane and vertical ; the other, external or 
posterior, is swollen and convex, and slightly maimnillated close to 
the crown. — (Golignon). 

The fourth character has sole reference to the molars, and is 
derived from the tubercles on their crowns — two on the small and 
four on the large molars. The largest tubercle on the small molars 
is on the outside ; the groove which separates them is somewhat 
deep in the upper, and is occasionally interrupted by the vestige of 
a third tubercle in the lower. The four tubercles of the large 
molars are separated by a cross-shaped sulcus, and sometimes a 
fifth tubercle is noticed. The wisdom tooth has usually only three 



Chap, iv.] DISTINCTIVE CHAEACTERS 0*F THE TEETH. 139 

tubercles — two external and one internal ; or its crown presents the 
form of the letter S, the posterior branch of which commences on 
the inside, and the anterior branch terminates on the outside by 
doubling upon itself. In reality, its tubercles exhibit the same 
arrangement as the adjoining great molar, but are less definite, andy. 
as it were, rudimentary. 

The fangs furnish the last characters of which we shall speak. 
The small molars have usually but one, except the second upper,, 
which has frequently two. The large lower molars have two fangs,, 
an anterior and a posterior, which are curved slightly the one 
towards the other, and converge at the point. The upper have 
three fangs, one internal and two external, which diverge, because 
the inferior border of the maxillary sinus passes between them 
{Broca). In the large lower molars, the fang Avhich is behind is 
by far the larger ; in the upper, the intermediate one is the largest. 
The wisdom tooth has the same number of fangs as the adjoining 
molars, but they are generally consolidated into one or two. 
Lastly, the fangs of all the teeth, but especially those of the 
incisors, the canines, and the small molars, have their points curved 
outwards or backwards in the direction crossing the arch. — 
( Colicjnon). 

We may add that the crown of the first large molar bears some- 
times a resemblance to that of a small molar, and the first small 
molar to a canine. The first large molar is the strongest, the third 
has the lowest crown. The milk teeth may be recognised by the 
following marks : they are bluish-white'in colour, and not of the 
yellowish-blue tint of those of the second dentition. The incisors 
and canines are smaller, and have shorter fangs. The two milk 
molars are larger than the two small permanent molars ; they are 
multicuspidate, and not bicuspidate, having three tubercles on the 
outside and two on the inside. They have more the appearance of 
large molars than of the small molars Avhich succeed them. If we 
take, then, the head alone, it is easy to determine the age ; if the 
rest of the skeleton, with the exception of one or two bones, we 
arrive at the same result. The indications are still derived from the 
evolution of certain parts. 



140 OSSIFICATION OF THE LONG BONES. [Chap, iv^ 

Ossification of the Long Bones. 

At the end of the fourth week of intra-uterine life, the points 
of ossification of the clavicle make their appearance ; then those o| 
the lower jaw ; from the thirty-fifth to the fortieth day those ol 
the femur, the humerus, the tibia, the superior maxilla, tha 
vertebrae, and the ribs ; about the fiftieth day those of the cranium J 
and then — of which there is some doubt — of the scapula, &(| 
Ossification continues to go on; the points of the extremitieJ 
or epiphyses of the long bones, become united to one another, and 
then to the body or diaphysis. Of course the length of the bone 
furnishes some evidence of the age, but the following data are 
preferable. The periods indicated represent the mean of the 
variations observed and recorded by authors : 

About 5 years, the scaphoid, the latest formed of the bones of the tarsns, is 
ossified. 
„ 12 „ the pisiform, the latest formed of the bones of the carpus, is 



14 „ the three portions of the iliac bone are united. 

14 ,, the inferior extremity of the radius is united to the body of 

the bone. 

15 „ the superior extremity of the ulna is united to the body of 

the bone. 
15 „ the lesser trochanter of the femur is united to the greater. 

15 „ the coracoid process is united to the scapula. 

16 ,, the calcaneum is ossified throughout. 

17 5, the greater trochanter is united to the head of the femur. 

17 „ all the points of the inferior extremity of the humerus are 
united. 

17 5, the epiphyses of the phalanges of the fingers are united to 

the body of the bone. 

18 „ the superior extremity of the femur is united in its entirety 

to the shaft. 
18 „ the inferior extremity of the humerus is united to the body 

of the bone. 
18 „ the inferior extremity of the tibia is united to the body. 

18 „ the inferior extremity of the fibula is united to the body. 

19 „ the epiphyses of the metatarsal bones are united to the 

body. 



Chap, iv.] DEYELOPMEJs^T OF THE FOEE-AEM. 141 

About 19 years, the superior extremity of the humerus is united to the 

body. 
,, 20 ,, the epiphyses of the m.etacarpal bones are united to the 

body. 

20 ,, the inferior extremity of the femur is united to the body. 

20 „ the inferior extremity of the radius is united to the body. 

20 ,, the inferior extremity of the fibula is united to the body. 

20 ,, the inferior extremity of the ulna is united to the body. 

20 „ the body of the sphenoid is united to the body of the 

occipital. 
20 ,, the patella is completely ossified. 
20 „ the sacral vertebrae are anchylosed together. 
45 „ the xiphoid cartilage is anchylosed to the sternum. 
50 „ the coccyx is anchylosed to the sacrum. 

It is said that during foetal life the body is developed more 
rapidly than the head. The extremities, M. Sappey says, are 
formed from their free extremity to their root ; the greater part of 
the hand and foot appears in the form of buds attached to the 
trunk; then the fore-arm and the leg, the arm and the thigh, 
successively make their appearance ; the divisions into fingers and 
toes appear the last. When first fully formed the various segments 
have not the proportions which they have at a later period. The 
femurs, small at first in proportion to the body, afterwards become 
relatively large. The same with the humerus. M. Hamy, taking 
the measurements of Sue, Gunz, Liharzic, and others, has shown 
that about the fourteenth day of intra-uterine life, the fore-arm of 
the European is longer than the humerus ; while from about two 
months and a half it gradually becomes smaller. At this period the 
length of the fore-arm, in proportion to that of the humerus, is 
as 88 to 100; at birth this relation is 77; and from 5 to 13 
years reaches 72, which it henceforth preserves. In the adult 
Il^Tegro this relation is higher ; from which M. Hamy concludes that 
the proportions of the fore-arm, relatively to the arm, are at first 
of the ISTegro character in the European, and assume their true 
character at a later period. 

Other modifications, some connected with evolution, others with 
the biped attitude, are exhibited in the inferior extremities. 

The pelvis at birth is relatively narrow, and, as a consequence, 



142 DEVELOPMENT OF THE FEMUR. [Chap. iv. 

the great troclianters appear more projecting. The angle which the 
neck of the femur makes with the body of the bone is very wide, 
and the two femurs fall almost perpendicularly. At adult age the 
pelvis enlarges ; the trochanter femoris is less projecting ; the angle 
of the neck is less open — from 125 to 130 degrees in the man, and 
-approaching a right angle in the woman {Humphry) ; the shaft of 
the bone is very oblique, owing to the inferior extremity making 
an angle with the perpendicular, looking from above, of about 15 
degrees. In old age the angle of the neck is still diminished, and 
in the man reaches about 110 degrees; the pelvis appears larger, 
and the great trochanters are less prominent ; lastly, the curve, with 
its concavity looking backwards, is increased. 

We may add, incidentally, that the angle of the neck is smaller, 
and the obliquity of the femur more pronounced in short men : it 
is the same in woman, according to Humphry. These two 
anatomical conditions of the femur — the obliquity estimated by 
the angle which its extremity makes with the vertical, and the 
wangle of its neck with the diaphysis — have been the subject of 
.special study by our colleague, Dr. Kuhff. His researches have 
been carried out upon twenty-four femurs, and the following are the 
mean results obtained in reference to these two points : 





Number. 


Angle of 
obliquity. 


Angle 
neck. 


Cavern of La Lozere 


8 


9°-7 .. 


. 125° 


Dolmens of La Lozere 


5 


.. 11 .. 


122 


Grottoes of La Marne 


... 19 


.. 11 .. 


. 129 


Gallo-Eomans 


6 


.. 12 .. 


. 122 


Carlovingians 


4 


.. 12 .. 


. 119 



His maximum and minimum degrees of obliquity are 14 and 8 
respectively, and of the angle of the neck, 140 and 117 degrees. 
The results agree very closely with those of Mr, Humphry. 

One of the causes of the diminution of the stature at an advanced 
age is the sinking of the neck. Another, still more important, is 
the subsidence of the intervertebral discs, which takes place for the 
most part anteriorly, whereby the whole of the trunk is bent 
forwards. Osseous vegetations are thrown out between the body 



Chap, iv.] DIFFERENCES IK THE SKELETON. 143 

of one vertebra and that of another, which tend to strengthen the 
■cokimn and to Ihiiit the incurvation. 

If the first task of the anthropologist, when called npon to give 
his opinion upon human remains, is to determine their age, his 
second is to ascertain the sex. Both studies concern Man in his 
ensemble, and not Man in his ethnic varieties. It is of the latter 
therefore that we shall speak in this place. 



Sexual Differences in the Skeleton. 

There is no appreciable difference in the skeleton in infancy, and 
lip to puberty ; its features are rather of a feminine character. At 
puberty, the line of demarcation commences, but the characters 
.are not thoroughly defined until 20 years of age and upwards. At 
about 45, or upwards, the distinctions of sex become less marked, 
and at advanced age are but trifling, though the general character 
of the skeleton is rather masculine. 

The principles which govern the sexual differences in adult age 
may be summed up in a few words. All the parts of the female 
skeleton are lighter and more frail; the general contour is more 
soft and graceful; the eminences, processes, or tubercules, are 
smaller and less marked. If there is one well-established physio- 
logical fact, it is this : that the asperities which serve for the 
insertion of muscles are developed in proportion to the activity of 
those muscles. , Less marked in the studious man than in the 
labourer, these asperities are still less so in the woman, especially 
in women residing in towns. This law is so exact that we can 
tell by the degree of prominence of the crests and processes, what 
muscles the individual was most in the habit of using, and hence 
judge as to his profession or calling. As a sequence of these 
prominences, the depressions, grooves, and marks are more distinct 
in the man. So the temporal ridge, which serves superiorly for the 
insertion of the temporal muscle, and the transverse ridges, which 
divide the internal surface of the scapula, and serve for the insertion 
of the subscapularis muscle, are more marked in the male ; the 



144. SEXUAL CHAEACTEES OP THE SKELETON. [Chap. iv. 

groove of torsion of tlie humerus is more visible, and tlie two S-like 
curvatures of the clavicle are stronger. In the woman, on the 
contrary, the external protuberance of the occipital, and the two 
subjacent curved lines which serve for the insertion of the muscles 
of the nucha— the anterior tubercle of the tibia to which the triceps 
femoris is attached— the tuberosity of the radius which gives 
insertion to the biceps of the humerus, are less prominent — the 
curved alveolar borders are more regular — the borders of the malar 
bone are less thick — the canine fossa is less deep. In a word, it is 
tolerably easy to determine the sex by the appearance of a bone ; in 
the case of a long bone, we are rarely in doubt ; in a short bone, as 
the calcaneum, it is still possible to do so. But we must not be 
srirprised if we are occasionally at fault ; by making a comparison 
between one bone and another, the difficulty will be cleared up. 
Suppose we took the clean-shaved head of any individual, the beard 
being removed, or the hand, or foot, the rest of the body being 
concealed, anyone, particularly after a little practice, would be able 
to tell whether the part belonged to a man or a woman, though it 
might be sometimes difficult to do so. Both, whether spontaneously 
or by reason of the work in which they had been engaged, or owing 
to exposure to the air, would have all the appearances of the 
opposite sex. On the skeleton, a woman who had worked hard all 
her life would have the bony prominences and the processes for the 
articulations of muscles more developed, probably, than a man who 
had not worked at aU. 

Let us consider two organs only. The woman has the crests of 
the ilia larger and wider, in other words, the lips more prominent ; 
the subpubic foramen is of a triangular shape, while in the man it 
is irregularly oval ; the symphysis pubis is shorter, the subjacent 
arch is broad-pointed, while in the man it forms a very acute angle,, 
and the cotyloid cavities are more expanded. In a word, all the 
transverse diameters of her pelvis are increased, while in the man 
the vertical are the more so. In 113 male pelves, the maximum 
width to the length, or maximum height, was as 125*5 to 1000, 
and in the woman, as 135 to 1000. The mean relative width to 
the height of the individual in each sex, is as 160 to 1000 in the 



Chap. IV.] SEXUAL CHARACTEES OF THE SKULL. 145 

man, and as 174 in the woman ; that is to say, fourteen-thoiisandths 
more in the latter. 

The head of the woman is smaller and lighter, its contours more 
delicate, the surfaces smoother, the ridges and processes not so 
marked. The superciliary arches are but little prominent; the 
external half of the superior orbital border is thin and sharp 
{Broca). .The forehead is vertical below, projecting above. The 
occipital condyles are small, as also the mastoid and styloid pro- 
cesses. The zygomatic arches are slender. The cranium in its 
ensemble is less high and longer. The subnasal portion of the face 
is more prognathous in the white races, less so in the black. The 
inferior maxilla is smaller, its posterior angles having no projecting 
roughnesses. The frontal sinuses are less developed, &c. 

Of all these characters the most important and the only ones 
easy to measure are the smallness of the head, the less capacity 
of the cranial cavity, and the relative lightness of the brain. Then 
the obliteration of the glabella, the throwing outwards of the 
superior orbital border, the smallness of the inion, the slight pro- 
jection of the occipital curved lines, and, lastly, the more abrupt 
angle, more nearly approaching a right angle, of the forehead at 
the level of the frontal iDrotuberanoes. Five times out of six 
we may decide the question with certainty ; M. Mantegazza 
says nine times out of ten."^ It may be asked. What skulls 
should be preferred upon which to study the races of Man 1 A^'ith 
Van der Hoeven, we reply, those of men. ]N'o one would be so 
bold as to say that ethnic characters- are best exhibited in 
the cranium of the infant; but the skeleton of the woman 
is intermediate between that of the infant and the adult man. 
Having considered the skeleton, we must take a brief glance 
at other questions in relation to age and function in Man and 
animals.t 

* P. Mantegazza, " Dei Caraterri Sessuali del Cranio Umano," in " Archio 
per I'Anthrop.," vol. ii., 1872 ; A. Dureau, " Des Caracteres Sexuels dii 
Crane Hnmain," in " Revue d'Anthrop.," vol. ii., 1873. 

t See Colin, "Traite de Physiologie Comparee des Animaux." Two vols. 
Paris, 1871. 



146 



PHENOMENA OF EEPRODUCTION. 



[Chap. iv. 



The Temperature of the Body, 

Some degrees above zero (centigrade) in most animals termed 
cold blooded, as reptiles and fishes, is some degrees higher in birds 
and mammalia, which are both warm blooded. Moreover, it varies 
but little in the latter. The temperature of Man (in the axilla) is 
37*8 centigrade ; that of the hare and squirrel is the same ; that 
of the horse is 38 ; of the ox, 38*5 ; of the bat and the whale, 
38-8; of the tiger and panther, 39 ; of the ordinary monkeys, 39*7 
(Nogues); of the wolf, 40-5. 

TJie Pulse 

Varies considerably. It is from 70 to 80 in the minute in the 
adult man ; from 25 to 28 in the elephant; from 36 to 40 in the 
horse ; from 45 to 50 in the ox ; from 70 to 80 in the pig, the 
sheep, and the goat ; from 90 to 100 in the dog ; from 120 to 140 
in the cat ; 175 .in the dormouse ; 200 in the mouse. 

Phenomena of Reproduction. 

These exhibit still more marked differences. Three points here 
demand our attention, viz. the duration of gestation, the number 
of young, and menstruation. Generally speaking, in the mammalian 
series, the circumstances which are favourable to reproduction are 
in direct ratio to the shortness of life. The smaller species carry 
their young a shorter period than the larger, and have a greater 
number of young at a birth. In the following list we see the place 
occupied by Man. He has two at a birth more frequently than the 
monkey tribe, and exceptionally he has three or four. 





Period of Gestation. 
Weeks. 


Number of 
young. 


Mouse ... 


3 ,.. 


10 to 15 


Hare ... 


4 ... 


3 or 4 


Ferret ... 


6 ... 


6 to 8 


Dog 


9 ... 


5 or 6 


Lion 


14 ... 


4 „ 5 



€l[AP. IV.] 



DUEATIOK OF LIFE. 



147 





Period of Gestation. 


Number of 




Weeks. 


young. 


Eoebuck... 


... 24 


.. 2 


Macauco... 


... 15 




Macacus Rhoesus 


... 26 




Macacus Maimoi] 


... 34 




Stag ... 


... 36 




Seal 


... 39 




Woman ... 


... 39 




Cow ... • . 


... 41 




Mare 


... 43 




Camel ... 


... 45 




Giraffe ... 


... 61 




Elephant 


..: 100 





Menstruation is not confined to women, nor to the pitliecian 
monkeys. The phenomenon is identical with that called " rut " in 
animals. 

Duration of Life. 

The mean duration of ^ life in Man is at the present time, in 
France, about 40 years,* and the ordinary duration from 70 to 80. 
Some individuals, exceptionally, live beyond 100 years. Beraud 
says, one in 3100 in England. Prichard mentions that in the year 
1799, Eastron had collected together 1712 cases of centenarians : of 
this number, 277 had attained from 110 to 120 years; 117 from 
120 to 150; and eight from 150 to 180. He also gives a great 
number of other equally well-authenticated and not less extra- 
ordinary cases. With some e;xceptions, Man is the most highly 
favoured of the mammalia as regards longevity ; the reproductive 
faculty continues longer, and he enjoys a long old age. But is not 
this due to the care which he takes of himself? The average 
duration of life in Europe is increasing, while in coimtries where 
the people go about naked it is decreasing. 

Among animals, longevity is generally less in the smaller species. 
The pig lives to the^ age of 9 years, the dog from 15 to 18, the 



* " Sur le Pretendue Degenerescence de la Population Fran9aise," by 
M. Broca, in " Bull. Acad. Med." 1867. 



148 GENEEAL FUNCTIONS. [Chap. iv. 

"bear from 20 to 25,* the horse and tlie ox to 20, the camel to 45, 
the elephant from 150 to 200 years. As regards the three higher 
anthropoids, the average duration of life is from 40 to 50 years. 

General Functions and Psychical Manifestations. 

Man inhahits every region of the globe, and inures himself to all 
climates and to all conditions of life. Whether at the pole or the 
equator, on the highest mountains or in the deepest valleys, in arid 
deserts or unhealthy swamps, nothing seems to daunt him. The 
Esquimaux are to he met with up to 80 degrees north. There are 
those who live and thrive in the Andes and the Himalayas, at an 
altitude of 4000 or 5000 metres and upwards ; and we find in- 
habitants even in those vast regions in which Livingstone travelled 
up to his middle in water. From 47 degrees cent. ( = 116*6 Fahr.) 
in the shade, as observed in Senegal, to 56 below zero ( = 100 degrees 
Fahrenheit below freezing-point) at the poles, are the extremes of 
temperature which he is able to support. Some animals readily 
adapt themselves to the most opposite conditions 'of climate, as the 
dog ; others are unable to bear such changes, as the reindeer, the 
bear, the lion, the whale. This is how the disappearance of certain 
geological species, as the megatherium, the mastodon, and. the 
mammoth, is to be accounted for. The anthropoid apes live in 
communities in certain circumscribed regions ; the gorilla and the 
chimpanzee on the west coast of Africa, at about 15 degrees north 
and south of the equator ; the orang in Borneo and Sumatra ; the 
gibbons in India, bordering on China and Malacca. M. Schv^^ein- 
furth has discovered a new species of chimpanzee on the banks of 
the Upper White Mle. Other species have been described, 
belonging to the tertiary epochs, in different parts of the globe, 
especially in France. We may remark that the anthropoids are 
only to be met with in hot countries. This power which Man 
possesses, of more or less readily accustoming himself to any climate, 
is to be accounted for from the fact (1) That he is omnivorous; 

* A bear cubbed in one of the pits in Berne, is said to have reached the 
age of 47 years. 



i 



Chap, it.] GENERAL FUNCTIONS. U9 

and (2) that he knows how to clothe himself and to manufacture 
weapons and implements. The Esquimaux subsists on oil and the 
iiesh of seals; the Todas of the Mlgherries on milk and pulse. 
Some tribes live on fish and shell-fish, and take sea w^ater as a 
beverage. Others mix clay with their food, Avhile civilised nations 
obtain their supplies from all sources. Man cooks his food, but he 
does not despise the raw moUusk, or undressed fish, or the raw 
flesh of the mammalia. Unlike any other animal, he rears cattle 
and devotes himself to agriculture. He makes use of various 
animals, as the dog, the cat, the camel, and the reindeer, to .sub- 
serve his own purj^oses ; and even his fellow-creatures, be they 
black or white, are equally under his dominion. In this respect 
some animals imitate him — as the red ants in their treatment of 
the black ants. 

The majority of animals possess natural means of protection and 
defence. The gorilla has a fur peculiar to himself, powerful canine 
teeth, and a muscular system of extraordinary strength. Other 
mammalia possess agility and swiftness in running, which enables 
them to escape from enemies. Man has nothing of the kind. 
" JSTaked and without weapons," such is Linnreus's definition of 
him. All his various methods of operation he owes to his industry. 
From the remotest period he has made use of fire, and has manu- 
factured flint implements. The anthropoid ape has never known 
how to make use of a staff, to put up a fence, to make a fire, nor 
to construct a habitation which can be dignified by a higher title 
than that of a nest."^ The negroes of the islands in the Indian 
Ocean, who live in trees, or sleep under bundles of sticks laid 
against a rock, do so from indolence or indifference, rather than 
from incapacity. The lowest savages known have some notion of 
drawing ; they know at least how to make a cross or a round in 
imitation of objects which they see around them; and, for our 
part, we attach but little credence to the statement made by Old- 
field, that the aborigines of Western Australia are unable to 

■•• Livingstone saw one of these enormous nests constructed by tlie soko, 
one of tlie chimpanzees. M. du Chaillu saw a sort of circular roofing in. 
trees, constructed by another chimpanzee, the troglodytes calvns. 



150 FAMILY EELATIONS. [Chap, iy, 

distinguish, the jfigure of a tree from that of a ship. In the same 
region other travellers have observed, on the contrary, that they 
possess a certain amount of intellectual capacity. It would have 
been well if Oldfield had given some case in verification of his 
statement. 

Among all races of mankind there exists the desire to jjlease, or 
the love of dress. In civilised countries it is more developed in 
the woman, among barbarous tribes it is more so in the man. Some 
tattoo themselves, or suspend various ornaments to their ears, or to- 
the septum of the nose, while others dye their hair, or sharpen their' 
front teeth into points. Something analogous has been observed 
in domestic, monkeys. Many tribes cannot count above two,, 
and are less favoured in this respect than the magpie, which 
can count up to three, some say up to twelve. But all have 
some notion of number. A Bosjesman, however, although in- 
telligent in other respects, was incapable of adding one and one 
together. 

Man is not to be distinguished from animals as regards his family 
relations. He is monogamous or polygamous, and the Vv^oman is 
similarly polyandrous. The gorilla and the chimpanzee are mono- 
gamous, very jealous of the fidelity of their partners, and very 
devoted in their attentions to them. Man, likewise, attaches him- 
self without hesitation to those of his own kindred. He lavishes 
his care and love on his offspring beyond the period of lactation, 
and up to that when they are able to look after themselves. If 
this period should be prolonged beyond puberty it is owing to the 
customs of society. The ceremonies which among all savage tribes 
mark the progress from infancy to manhood also mark the period 
at which Man acquires his independence. Maternal affection, 
with all its evidences of blind devotion, is, with rarest exceptions, 
universal. The father exercises authority over the life of his 
children ; he practises infanticide openly at his will and pleasure, 
in the same way as the son, at a later period, disencumbers him- 
self from his parents who have become a burden to him. The 
Todas destroy in the cradle all their female children beyond a 
certain number, as being useless, in the same way as they kill 



Chap, iv.] SOCIABILITY. 151 

all their male buffaloes but one, because tbey do not give milk. 
In a state of nature Man considers utility first, and refers every- 
thing to his wants, his family, and so on. It must be confessed 
that in the social condition there is much of this sort of thing 
under a less rough exterior. Selfishness is well known to be the 
moving principle almost universally, and is only limited in its 
action by a fear of the law, or by education. 

Man lives in society because he is compelled to do so, like many 
other animals. Being endowed with the faculty of language, and 
with exalted intellectual powers, he wants to exercise them, having 
in view also the more ready satisfying of his material wants, and 
the realisation of a larger amount of comfort. Emulation, which 
results from this, is the most powerful cause of progress in the 
physical, moral, and intellectual world. The larger the community, 
the greater the amount of rivalry ; and the more fierce the contest, 
the more rapid the progress. 

A great number of animals also seek the society of their fellow- 
creatures, and work in company, as the beaver, the buffalo, the 
Australian dog, the horse, the swallow, the bee, the ant. The 
soko, an anthropoid ape, lives in a troop of ten individuals on the 
banks of the river Lualaba. Many species of monkeys, like 
Man, select a chief, who directs their operations and to whom they 
submit. The howlers, or mycetes, belonging to the cebian family, 
hold meetings in which one of them speaks for hours at a time in 
the midst of general silence, succeeded by great excitement, which 
ceases as soon as the speaker gives the word of command. Other 
monkeys combine together to plan an incursion; divided into 
detachments, some plunder and tear up roots, others make a chain 
for the purpose of carrying them from hand to hand; others are 
placed as sentinels to keep watch. In unexpected danger, the 
sentinel gives the alarm and all decamp. It has been remarked 
that if it happens that the troop is surprised, owing to the fault of 
the sentinel, there is a grand hubbub in the neighbouring forest 
during the night, and on the morrow the body of one of the 
plunderers is found, to all appearance having been put to death by 
his companions. 



152 EELIGIOUSNESS. [Chap. iv. 

It has been said that one of the characteristics of man is religious- 
ness, that is to say, ." the faculty of belief in something above 
human understanding." Would it not be better to define it as an 
internal impulse, which prompts us to individualise the unknown 
and to make him the object of adoration ? "^ 

Be it as it may, many, even among the most civilised, have 
neither this belief nor this impulse, and are satisfied to live without 
troubling themselves as to that which they do not comprehend ; 
they have neither fear, nor reverence, nor gratitude — the three 
causes of religious conceptions. There are nations and tribes with- 
out religion and without any mode of worship, and who believe 
only in wizards or fetich. It is true they make every form of 
superstition to subserve their religiousness. But some African or 
Melanesian tribes have not even superstitions.t 

Neither good luck nor misfortune affects them in any way. If, 

* It is impossible to take religion in its strict sense as the faculty of 
believing in a god ; if so, half of the population of the globe would be 
destitute of it. Taking Buddhism alone, there are three or four hundred 
million votaries of this " religion without God, founded on charity amount- 
ing to madness." — Lahoulaye. 

f Nothing requires such calm and impartial judgment as the inquiry 
into the moral and religious condition of savage tribes. Burchell, through 
his interpreter, addressed two or three questions to Bosjesmans, and im- 
mediately came to the conclusion that "they were brutes, because they did 
not answer the simple question : What is the difference between a good and 
a bad action ? " Cases of this kind are very common. Other travellers, 
less impulsive, perseveringly inquired into their beliefs and superstitions, 
and came to the conclusion that they had no conception of anything outside 
themselves, and were persuaded that they die in the same condition. Which 
are we to believe ? Such a thing is rare as a rule. All missionaries, to 
whatever church they belong, are impressed with the conviction that 
savages believe in a god, in the existence of a soul, and in the deluge ; while 
independent travellers arrive at altogether different conclusions. The fact 
is, the savage endeavours to please those from whom he is likely to gain 
something. He understands the wishes of the missionaries and satisfies 
them. It is absolutely imdeniable that the absence of all abstract ideas is 
a very common characteristic of savage tribes ; terror causes them to see 
evil spirits everywhere, and to create for themselves fetich, but the opposite 
feeling, the recognition of that which does them good, induces, them to i 
ceive of beneficent spirits. 



Chap, rv.] MORALITY. 153 

after long abstinence, they get a windfall, they eat and think of 
nothing further. In this respect Man is inferior to the dog, which 
maintains a devoted attachment to the hand that brings him his 
daily food, to the master, who is to him as a God. Assuredly this 
animal has a belief in something above him. Say if those birds 
which warble their songs at the rising of the sun are not moved 
by an internal impulse to praise nature for the infinite pleasure 
which she bestows upon them ? This is but little removed from 
adoration. 

Man alone has an idea of duty — a morale. Is tliis certain? 
And of what kind of morality are we to speak first — of that of the 
peasant or of the noble — of the morality of the laws or of natural 
morality'? A very remarkable English work"* mentions that 
morality is essentially variable, progressive, and perfectible; that 
it is a reflex of wants, of usages, and of circumstances ; what is 
good here, is bad elsewhere — as to take care of one's infirm parent, 
or to bury him alive. Its radius, he says, has gone on enlarging 
for ages, from the inferior to the superior races ; at first consisting 
only of the family, it has since extended to the whole tribe ; that 
which was evil in one was good in other tribes. Thence it has 
spread far and wide and has become international. " Morality or 
ethics," says Mr. Tylor, "signifies the act of conforming to the 
manners [mores, rjdrj) of the society to which we belong. There 
are not two races in the world which have exactly the same 
code of morality, but each has its own, which is sanctioned by 
public opinion." At the present moment throughout Europe do 
not the rules of morality change in the event of war? Tylor's 
most approved criterion, " Do not to another that which you would 
not have done to yourself," applies to animals as well as to man. 
The dog knows that in order not to be bitten he must not bite, 
and acts accordingly : he has also liis morality. 

jMan possesses consciousness of that which philosophers call 
le moi, that is to say of himself, of his personality. It would be 

* " Primitive Culture," by E. B. Tylor. Second edition, London, 1873. 
Translated into French; Eeiswald and Co.'s edition. Paris, 1876. 



154 MENTAL FACULTIES. [Chap, iv, 

strange if animals had it not also. Man lias the sense of the 
noble, of the jnst, though he has many ways of expressing it. He 
grasps the relations of cause to effect ; the animal does the same. 
He possesses spontaneity, will, the power of balancing probabilities : 
but is it not so with animals 1 Madness even is not peculiar to 
man."^ 

M. Houzeau has worked out this subject in a masterly manner 
in his two volumes on " The Mental Faculties of Animals." But 
Prichard, the most orthodox of anthropologists, had previously 
devoted a long chapter to the consideration of their psychical en- 
dowments [faculUs 2^sychiques). There is also a work in th& 
" Bibliotheque des Sciences Contemporaines," which treats of all 
these questions.t 

But to the anthropologist, or the unprejudiced naturalist, the I 
inference is obvious. Between Man and most animals there is no 
absolute radical difference in intellectual arrangement. All the j 
faculties of Man are to be found, without exception, in animals, 
but in a rudimentary state ; some are very highly developed, others J 
more so even than in ourselves. It is not the exclusive possession I 
of special faculties which gives us our supremacy, our judgment, ' 
our intelligence, our correctness of observation ; but the measure of 
these, and, better still, our holding them in perfect equilibrium. In 
a madman we continually notice a faculty of rising to a higher 
state than that which the sane man possesses. Keep this well in 
view, and the madman would appear to you to be a genius ; but at 
the same time other faculties are debased, there is a loss of balance, 
and consequently a less amount of reason. The intellectual 
characteristic of Man in general, and especially of the man of 
wisdom, is the exact equilibrium of all his faculties, and not the 
increase or exaltation of any. 

Another physiological character connected with the function of 
the brain, which anthropologists look upon as peculiar to man, is 

^•' See " Traite de la Folie des Animatix et de ses Kapports avec celle de 
rHomme," by Pierquin. Two vols. Paris, 1839. 

f See also " L'Anatomie Comparee du Systeme Nerveux," by Leuret and 
Gratiolet, vol. i., cbap. " Eacultes des Mammiferes." Paris, 1839. 



Chap, iv.] FACULTY OF EXPRESSION. 155 

the faculty of language, or that of uttering articulate sounds. Ac- 
cording to the doctrine of the derivation of Man from less perfect 
animal forms, Man would have taken his origin from the moment 
that he was put in possession of this faculty. 



Faculty of Language. 

Many, if not all, animals communicate to one another their 
thoughts relating to their usual life ; they have intonations and 
modulations of voice, each of which has a distinct and definite 
meaning. They variously express fear, joy, suffering, and 
hunger. They make themselves understood by those of their 
own species, of their own family, of their own young ; they warn 
them of the approach, of the nature, and of the amount of danger. 
But, as a general rule, they do not articulate. Some of them join 
together a few consonants to vowels, hut they repeat them without 
change. In this respect the notes of birds would better deserve 
the name of language. 

Let us explain. There exists in Man and animals, and common 
to them both, a general faculty called that of expression (Gaussin), 
or the faculty of connecting an idea with a sign. Its various- 
manifestations are the faculties of mimicry and of speech ; pro- 
bably also music and drawing. The mimic faculty evidently exists 
in animals. The dog which stands at game, and runs back to see 
if his master is in pursuit, or which scratches at the door to be let 
in, is a proof of this. It is not surprising that the animal does not 
possess the faculty of delineation, seeing that it has not the perfect 
hand of Man, nor has it been instructed. We can simply allude to . 
the hum of insects produced by the friction of their elytra, and 
pass on to the vocal faculty. There is not the slightest doubt that 
animals express their ideas in this way. M. Coudereau has taken 
great pains to analyse the language of the hen, and the numerous 
intonations corresponding to each order of ideas, which are pro- 
voked by the small number of feelings and wants in connection 
with its humble existence. But in this, and probably in that 
which is uttered by the howling monkey, are there not articulate 



158 FACULTY OF LANGUAGE. [Chap. iv. 

sounds, or syllables more or less jumbled together, whicb deserve 
the title of language 1 We must remember that the primitive 
languages spoken by Man were monosyllabic. All philologists tell 
us so, and that very tew elementary syllables were sufficient at 
first to constitute an articulate language. The question then 
resolves itself into this : How many articulate sounds or simple 
syllables would be required to constitute a language, and where is' 
the line to be drawn between the relatively perfect language of 
some species of animals, and the primitive language of the 
lowest type of our own progenitors 1 Of course we are not referring 
to the parrot, which attaches no meaning to its utterances, but to 
monkeys, which make use of diff'erent syllables, each having 
distinct meaning. 

We will now analyse the mechanism of human speech. The 
air expired from the lungs enters into vibration in the larynx,! 
where the voice is formed, and passes through the mouth, where! 
articulation takes place. The muscles of the larynx modify the 
former, the muscles of the vault of the palate, of the tongue, of the! 
cheeks and lips, have to do with the latter. But these also contract] 
for other purposes, and are supplied by diff'erent nerves. The! 
stimulation of these nerves at their origin would only produce 
irregular contractions having no definite object. There are thenl 
besides special centres, having distinct functions, in which the! 
appropriate movements are co-ordinated, and to which the mental! 
impressions are conveyed. Thanks to the experience with whichl 
nature favours us in the living body, the centre, in relation not I 
only with articulation in general, but with each particular system,! 
is well known. When the quadrilateral "^ indicated by M. Broca,! 
at the posterior extremity of his third frontal convolution, especi-j 
ally on the left side, is affected by an acute lesion, the faculty of I 
articulating is disturbed or altogether suppressed, f 

* See page 109 on the Seat of the Faculty of Language. 

+ In naicrocephales, who have never been able to learn to speak, the^ 
third frontal convolution has been found atrophied. It has been asked why! 
the faculty of language should appear to be localised, or rather is the more! 



Chap, iy.] FACULTY OF LANGUAGE. 157 

The plienomenon reduced to its most simple expression is termed 
aphemia. The individual preserves his intellect, expresses his 
ideas loj gestures or by writing, moves his tongue and lips, and 
has power of voice, but is unable to articulate ; his general faculty 
of expression remains, but he has lost the power of speech. At 
other times the lesion is more extensive ; he has still ideas, but is 
incapable of committing them to writing or otherwise. Sometimes 
the lesion is still more considerable, and the intellect itself is 
affected. 

We see then the series of operations which language requires, 
and to which so many more or less distinct organs lend their aid : 
(1) Thought and will; (2) The general faculty of expression; 
(3) The particular faculty of articulating ; (4) The transmission by 
nerves ; (5) The execution by muscles. These functions are 
thoroughly in accord, and largely developed in Man, but is it not 
so in the animal *? The animal has ideas, he possesses the faculty 
of expression and of articulating sounds, but all this is in a rudi- 
mentary state. In Man, on the contrary, all have assumed gigantic 
proportions; his ideas have become multiplied in the course of 
ages ; his faculty of articulating has become perfected by use ; his 
nerves and muscles have learnt to obey him absolutely. And in 
the same way as an instrument gives out more harmonious sounds 
according as the fingers which play upon it acquire greater expert- 
ness, and the musical power which directs them greater force, so 
human language is the result of progressive development in the 

often exercised from the left side. Two explanations have been given; 
that of M. Broca is the one generally admitted. We are not right-handed, 
he says, by accident, but because the left hemisphere, which presides over 
the movements of the right side by the decussation of the nerves near their 
origin, has from the first a greater amount of activity. This excess of 
activity extends to all the functions of which this hemisphere is the seat, 
and notably of that of articulation. There ai-e exceptions, nevertheless; 
that is to say, there are persons who originally, or after a lesion in the left 
hemisphere, speak with their right ; in the same way as there are some people 
originally left-handed, and others who have become left-handed in conse- 
quence of having lost their right hand. 



158 PATHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS. [Chap. v. 

course of ages from efforts at first weak and unpretending. But is 
it the multiplication of ideas wliicli originally gave birth to 
language, or language wliicli has given development to ideas'? 
This is the question.^ 



CHAPTER Y. 

PATHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS DISEASES FACTS OF TERATOLOGY 

MICROCEPHALUS HYDROCEPHALUS PREMATURE SYNOSTOSES 

ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATIONS OF THE SKULL CONCLUSION AS TO 

man's place in the class of MAMMALIA. 

Pathological conditions are merely deviations from the physio- 
logical state. They . affect living organs, and have reference also 
to man's life generally. The chapter on pathological characters, 
although important, is only a sequel of our general division o: 
physiological characters. The points on this horizon which inti 
rest the anthropologist, only looking at the comparison of Man 
with the other mammalia, are of three orders : (1) The number 
of diseases common to Man and animals, and the few peculiar to 
the one or the other ; (2) The disturbances in the regular de- 
velopment of the body, when they can throw any light on the 
problem of the origins of organisation ; (3) Particular alterations in 
the skeleton being capable of being confounded with the normal 
<iondition. 

The laws of pathology are the same throughout the whol© 
mammalian series as those of physiology, upon which they depend ;! 
their effects, too, are generally identical. Animals, like Man, are 
subject to accidents, to faults of development, to diseases of an 
acute and transient nature, and to those which are chronic and ol 
long duration. They have the troubles of youth as well as those 

""■ See " La Linguistique," by M. Abel Hovelacqne, 2nd edition, Paris, 1876, 
■*' Bibliotheque des Sciences Contemporaines." 



Chap, v.] PATHOLOGICAL CHAEACTERS. 159 

of old age. In both are observed inflammatory and rheumatic 
affections, eruptive fevers, typhus, the neuroses ; the only difference 
is in the country in which these diseases manifest themselves, 
and in the symptoms resulting from this. There is as great a 
difference between the diseases which attack Europeans and those 
seen in JN^egroes, as between the diseases of Man and those of 
animals.'* 

Thus the eaux auxjcmtbes (grease) in the horse is the same disease 
as the cow-pox of the cow and the small-pox of Man. Experiments 
by inoculation have clearly proved this. The scab of sheep is 
doubtless something of the same kind ; the pig, too, is subject to a 
form of small-pox. The congestion of the spleen of the sheep 
ispecj^es becomes the cliarhon in horned cattle, and the malignant 
pustule' in Man. It is unnecessary to say that affections of the 
skin are not the same on the thick skin of the horse and on the 
delicate skin of the European. Between the latter and that of the 
i^egro there are also differences in this respect. So the nervous 
system being less impressionable in animals, the reaction is less 
strong, and the fever less apparent. Like ourselves, the animal is 
dyspeptic, asthmatic, tuberculous, scrofulous, or cancerous. Like 
ourselves, the constituent elements of his blood — the globule, the 
albumen, and the fibrin — increase or diminish, producing anaemia, 
dropsy, or scurvy. Eood other than the milk provided for their 
use, produces in their young diarrhoea, as in Man. They have the 
same swelling of the glands during the eruption of the teeth. A 
young orang died under our own observation owing to disorders of 
dentition, which arose while we were treating it as we should have 
done a human being. The acarus which produces the itch may 
differ in kind, but its effects are identical. Parasites in general, 
such as entozoa, vary, as in Man, according to climate, but in the 
same way as those which infest vegetables. Hydrophobia is met 
with in the dog, the cat, the wolf, the fox, the cow, and the horse, 
as in Man {Trousseau). Syphilis exists among apes. A macacus 
sinicus which was the subject of a communication to the Anthropo- 

* " Dictionnaire de Medecine Veterinaire," by Bouley and Eeynal. Two 
vols. 1859. 



160 ANOMALIES OF DEVELOPMEXT. [Chap. v. 

logical Society of London, in 1865, presented the three series of 
phenomena — the ulceration of the sexual organs, the falling off of 
the hair, and the affection of the bones. The diseases of the brain 
themselves are not peculiar to Man. Animals exhibit many forms 
of delirium ; but they are more frequent in Man, owing to the im- 
portance of the organ which is their seat, as well as to the activity 
and delicacy of its manifestations. 

In a word, the pathological types are the same throughout the 
whole mammalian series, and are only modified according to species. 
The diseases peculiar to one or many species are rare, as glanders, 
which appears peculiar to Man and solipeds. Moreover, animal 
pathology has advanced but little, and has scarcely reached beyond 
that of our domestic species. 

Anomalies of development are, according to our idea, 'of four 
kinds. Some exhibit themselves physiologically during life : for 
example, giants and those afflicted with polysarcia ; others are con- 
genital, ])ut can be modified or removed after birth ; a third kind 
are congenital and irremediable, except occasionally by surgical 
means, and are called monstrosities, or teratological phenomena ; a 
fourth are the organic anomalies described at page 126, under the 
name of Eeversions. 

Among giants we may mention a Finlander, Avho was 2*83 metres 
in height, and a Kalmuck, whose skeleton is in the Museum Orfila, 
2*53 metres. Then we have dwarfs, but these are for the most 
]3art affected with rickets. The height of the celebrated Bebe 
of King Stanislas of Poland was 89 centimetres; another, 25 
years of age and 56 centimetres in height, was presented to 
Henrietta of France in a pie. 

The ordinary weight of the man is 63 kilogrammes, accord- 
ing to Quetelet, and that of the woman, 54. We have seen 
dwarfs who only weighed from 4 to 8 kilogrammes. In 
polysarcia, or obesity, the weight is often more than 150 kilo- 
grammes. Two Englishmen, brothers, weighed, the one 233 
kilogrammes, the other 240 {Sappey). Another Englishman, in 
1724, measured 1 metre 72 centimetres round the body, and was 
1 metre 86 centimetres in heif^ht, Barrow mentions a half-caste 



Chap, v.] ALBINISM. 161 

from the Cape of Good Hope, who lived twelve years in his hed, 
and was burnt alive in it ; the house having taken fire, neither the 
door nor the window was found large enough to enable him to get 
out. 

Albinos are individuals in whom the pigmentary matter is so 
far deficient that the skin and hair are colourless, the iris is trans- 
parent, and the choroid coat destitute of the dark pigment for the 
absorption of redundant rays of light. In consequence of this, 
they are unable to bear bright sunlight, and see better at night than 
during the day. Their eyeballs are affected with a perpetual 
oscillating movement, their skin and hair are colourless, or of a 
dull white, the eyes reddish, the transparency of the" tissues show- 
ing the blood circulating through the capillaries. They are often 
indolent^ and without muscular vigour. There are partial albinos, 
in whom all the above symptoms are observed, but in aJess degree. 
They may easily pass unnoticed among the white races, but are 
very observable among the black ; their hair is flaxen or red, their 
skin coffee-coloured or speckled, their eyes are light blue or 
reddish. 

Both are met with among all races and under all climates. In 
some of the native courts on the west coast of Africa, especially in 
Congo, they are an object of veneration, and go by the name of 
" dondos." Dr. Schweinfurth has seen a great number of them with 
the king of the Monbouttous on the banks of the Bahr-el-GhazeL 
Prom their presence among the blackest populations, Prichard 
framed an important argument in favour of the influence of 
•external circumstances, and of the derivation of the human race 
from one primitive pair. He delighted to reiterate it, and more- 
over he was the first to establish the fact that their hair was as 
woolly and their features were as negro as those of their fellow- 
•countrymen of the same tribe. We say again, albinism is only a 
monstrosity, a pathological condition which has been cured, and 
we must take care how we place implicit reliance on the confused 
accounts given of it by travellers. A cutaneous affection called 
pityriasis versicolor is seen in whites, as a partial loss of colour of 
some portions of the skin, while the accumulation of pigment upon 

u 



163 MONSTEOSITIES. [Chap. v. 

other portions causes them to a^^pear of a deeper colour. The eyes 
are not at all affected in these cases. 

Our opinion is that what has been called in negroes piebald^ 
and described as an example of partial albinism, is the same thing. 
The scaly affection called ichthyosis, often of a marked hereditary 
character, to which Mr. Darwin frequently alludes, and the subjects 
of wliich deserve the title of porcupine men, has no interest for the 
anthropologist. 

Two individuals, Eussians by birth, were recently exhibited in 
Paris, called dog-men, whose bodies were covered with a quantity of 
long coarse hair ; they were also said to have exhibited a defective 
development of the teeth. Similar cases in Eurmah and India have 
been described, which were hereditary through three generations. 

Monstrosities, of which there are many varieties,* are produced 
durino- embryonic or foetal life, either in consequence of hereditary 
predisposition, of some accident to the mother, or from some disease 
of the foetus. They arise either from arrest, excess, or perversion 
of development. Some are incompatible with life, others do not 
interfere with it. We are not about to give an explanation 
respecting the two theories — either the one as to the pre- existence 
of germs, as maintained by Winslow, but now abandoned, and 
which means that the embryo represents from the very first the 
future being in his entirety ; or the other, that of Serres and Isidore 
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, called epigenesis, which we have described 
at page 128, and which admits progressive development. Among 
these monstrosities, we may mention polydactylism, or the existence 
of from four to seven fingers, which has been noticed as having 
occurred through many generations ; inversion of the viscera, in 
which the heart is found only on the right side, or where all the 
viscera are inverted ; the absence of one or more limbs ; herma- 
phroditism ; hypospadias ; imperforate anus ; hare-lip ; spina bifida ; 
microcephalus, &c. One of the most curious of the teratological 
groups is diplogenesis, in which the whole body is more or less 
double, as if there had been a fusion of two germs, or a duplication 
of a single one. The Siamese twins, and the two Zambo girls 

* Isidore Geo&oy Saint-Hilaire, " Traite de Teratologie." Paris, 1832. 



Chap, v.] MENTAL ALIENATION. 163 

exhibited in 1874 in Paris were of this kind. Perhaps we ought 
to speak of them as examples of supplementary limbs, as that of a 
ghi of 14 or 15 years of age, exhibited the same year before the 
Anthropological Society by Dr. Ball. 

Monstrosities are not peculiar to Man ; they are frequent also 
among animals. We shall only speak of those which are specially 
interesting to us as taking place in the head, as microcephalus and 
hydrocephalus. Under the name of mental alienation we include 
all the various functional disorders of the brain. These may be 
reduced to three : (1) Mania properly so called, which breaks out 
in individuals hitherto sane, has two forms — the one of excitement, 
the other of depression — and is general or partial ; (2) Dementia, 
Avhich is a general and progressive feebleness of aU the faculties, 
and is of two kinds — accidental, or senile ; (3) Idiotcy, in which 
the faculties have never attained their full development. In the 
three forms, the volume of the brain is increased or diminished 
according to the amount of disease, and according to the greater or 
less amount of blood which it contains. In ordinary mania there 
is rather an increase, and in dementia, sooner or later, a decrease. 
The lesion affects the entire organ, its central portions, its convolu- 
tions, and sometimes solely the gray substance covering them, and 
the functional disorder becomes permanent. It is impossible to be 
deceived, and true human superiority consists in knowing how to 
look the truth in the face. The most beautiful of our intellectual 
manifestations — those of which we are so justly proud — are the 
p roduc t_,Qf_,a_^iiaterial_ organ, in the same way as bile is the 
product of the liver, and the circulation is the product of the con- 
tractions of the heart. A sound and healthy brain produces sound 
judgment and understanding • a diseased, bloodless, and impaired 
brain produces the reverse. That which distinguishes Man from 
the brute is the quality and quantity of the organ — the quality and 
quantity of the product. 

If mania and dementia only concern medicine, idiotcy has an 
interest for anthropology; it exhibits the brain sometimes less 
developed, more simple, more or less stunted in growth, and 
approaching more to that of animals. 

M 2 



164 IDIOTCY. [Chap. v. 

There are many direct causes of idiotcy. Sometimes the volume 
of the brain is normal, but its convolutions are very large, generally 
less flexuous, or decidedly imperfect at some particular point. 
Sometimes it is hypertrophied, and its convolutions, though simple, 
are, as it were, piled upon one another, and tend to produce im- 
pressions on the internal surface of the cranium. Sometimes it is 
altogether atrophied, or only so on one side, in its frontal, parietal, 
or occipital lobes, in its central portions, or in a group of convolu- 
tions which we have seen replaced by cellular tissue, or trans- 
formed into a serous cyst. In a case shown to us by Dr. Mierze- 
jewski, the parietal and occipital lobes were so shrunken, that the 
cerebellum was completely uncovered, as in the kangaroo. These 
apparently contradictory lesions explain why the weight of the 
brain of lunatics generally has not uniformly exhibited the dimi- 
nution which we might have expected, as compared with the 
brains of men of sound mind. It is the same with the cubic - 
measurements of the cranial capacity. The cranium, at the termi- 
nation of infancy, may remain small, but at adult age and later it 
is unable to follow the retraction of its contents, and to become less 
in size. After inspecting 520 crania of insane persons, collected by 
Esquirol, which form part of the museum of the Anthropological 
Institute of Paris, and setting aside the probable cases of hydro- 
cephalus, we may safely say that their mean cranial capacity is 
below the mean in men of sound mind. If one could obtain those 
of idiots — that is to say, those who have been insane from birth — 
there cannot be a doubt that we should find it the same in them. 
Cretins, which are to be found under various names in almost all 
mountainous parts of the globe, may be placed in the same category 
as idiots. The immediate cause of cretinism is by no means certain. 
But how singular that this widespread malady should take place under 
the influence of external circumstances acting upon the brain of the 
• infant even during intra-uterine life ! The head is generally large, the 
figura that of an aged person, and the nose deeply sunk at the root, 
which has given rise to a theory of which wa shall speak presently.* 

* See " Treatise on Mental Diseases," by Greisenger. Translated into 
Frencli by M. Baillargor. Paris, 1864. . 



Chap, v.] MICEOCEPHALUS. 165 



Microcephcdus. 

All in whom the brain lias not attained a certain degree of 
development, or the cranial cavity a given capacity at adult age, are 
termed microcephales, whether such he really idiots or have only a 
general diminution of intellect similar to that of young infants. 
M. Broca divides them into demi-microcephales and microcephales 
proper. 

He says all the non-deformed crania of adult Europeans whose 
capacity is below 1150 cubic centimetres, and the horizontal cir- 
cumference less than 480 millimetres, if a man, and 475 if a 
woman, are demi-microcephales. The length and width are less 
positive ; moreover, we may consider crania to be demi-microcephales 
whose length is 163 millimetres and under, in the man, or 160 and 
nnder, in the woman, and whose width is 133 in the man and 127 
in the woman. ^ Eut the diminution continues still further, whicli 
brings us to the consideration of the true microcephales. 

Microcephalus is owing to a general or partial arrest or perversion 
of development in one part of the brain, which manifests itself at 
various periods of intra-uterine life. It is merely an anatomical 
variety of idiotcy. The organ, in the absence of complication, con- 
tinues to grow, but irregularly and slowly. Its weight, at puberty, 
reaches from 400 to 500 grammes, according to M. Delasiauve j it 
has been known to be 360 and even 240 "grammes {^Marshall). 
The cerebellum, Gratiolet states, is larger in proportion to the brain 
proper, and the convolutions are those of a foetus of five months. 
Atrophy is most frequently seen on the anterior lobes, and some- 
times on the posterior. The cranium has a capacity of from 300 
to 600 cubic centimetres, a circumference of from 320 to 370 milli- 
metres, and a length of from 100 to 118. Two microcephales, of 
•the ages of 10 and 15 years, mentioned by Yogt, had a mean of 
333 cubic centimetres, and seven adults, a mean of 433. The mean, 
in six cases of all ages, from M. Broca's museum and laboratory, 
measured by M. Montane, was 440, and that of three of them 

* See Chapters II. and III. for tlie measurements of normal crania. 



166 



MICROCEPHALUS. 



[Cpiap. v. 



of from 20 to 30 years of age, measured l)y M. Broca him- 
self, 414.* 

The body remains dwarfed or continues to be developed; it 
reaches puberty, and presents all the characteristics of that period 
without the power of procreation ; such was the case in the micro- 
cephales exhibited twice in Paris under the name of Aztecs, on 
account of their supposed origin. The man, who was 32 years of 
age, was 1'35 metre in height, the woman, who was 29, 1*32 metre. 
Their intellectual capacity was scarcely that of a child of three years 
of age ; their language consisted of about fifteen words, which they 
uttered in jerks. (Fig, 19.) 

As a result of the defective development of the brain, there is 

B. 

1 





Fig. 19. — ^A, Maximo; B, Bartola ; two microcephales from Central America, the hair 
growing like a mop(eji vadrouille), as the Cafusos, a variety of mixed breed between 
the Indian and the Negro. 

smallness of the cranium, especially in the frontal region, as seen 
in the above figures of two Aztecs. The facial region, which 
grows regularly, at least more so than the cranium, appears large. 
The eyeballs, in consequence of the atrophy of the forehead, project 
above, and are slightly hidden under the lower lid ; the nose, at 
least in these two cases, is very projecting. They are very prog- 
nathous, their lower jaw is smaller than the upper, so that the 
alveolar arch recedes about 25 millimetres, i' 



* "Instructions Craniologiques de la Society d'Anthropologie," drawn up 
by M. Broca, p. 147 — a pamphlet of 200 pages, with plates, Paris, 1876 ; 
" Stir les Microcephales," by Carl Vogt, Geneva, 1867 ; " Etude Anatomique 
du Crane chez les Microcephales," by L. Montane, Paris, 1874. 

f See the discussion on the microcephales on the occasion of our introducing 
these two Aztecs to the Anthropological Society in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 
2nd series, vol. ix. 1874, vol. x. 1875. 



CiiAP. v.] . RICKETS OF THE LONG BONES. 167 

The third series of pathological characters has reference to 
morbid deformities, or those following upon morbid conditions. 
They affect especially the skeleton, bones deformed by disease being 
mistaken for sound bones. These morbid conditions either affect 
all the bones or only those of the cranium ; the former include 
rickets, inflammations of the bones, syphilis, old sores, and fractures. 
We refer the reader to works on pathology for the majority of 
these, and shall confine ourselves principally to rickets, and to some 
diseases peculiar to the cranium. 

Packets. 

Itickets is a disorder of nutrition, in which the process of ossifi- 
cation is arrested at the period when the osseous tissue is about to 
become thoroughly organised (Broca). It is less a disease than a 
state of suffering, symptomatic of an impoverished condition of the 
system. It exhibits itself from the third month of intra-uterine 
life, up to 18 or 25 years of age, when the skeleton has done 
growing {L. Tri]pier), but it is more frequent about two years of 
age. The softened bones become deformed and incurved, in con- 
sequence of the Aveight of the body, of the contraction of the 
muscles, and of accidental pressure. It is at the weakest point of 
the natui'al incurvations that the bending usually takes place. 
A character common to all these deformities is the following : 
By making a section of an old rickety long bone, the compact 
osseus tissue is thicker on the diaphysis at the concavity of the 
curve, and thinner at the convexity. Another effect of the disease 
is this : the epiphyses, owing to the stage of ossification being 
accelerated, are found anchylosed to the diaphysis before the bone 
has arrived at its full size, so that the child ceases to grow, and 
remains a dwarf and deformed ever afterwards. We cannot there- 
fore depend upon any important measurement if made upon bones 
affected with rickets. The following are certain indications by 
which they may be recognised : 

In the clavicle the two curvatures are increased, especially the 
internal, which makes an abrupt bend. 

In the ribs the flatness and thinness are increased. 



168 RICKETS OF THE CRANIUM. [Chap. t. 

In the humerus the curve takes place below the middle portion^ 
its convexity looking forwards, forwards and outwards, or outwards. 

In the fore-arm the bend is in both bones, or in one only, about 
the middle, and is from behind forwards, being accompanied by a 
certain amount of torsion. 

In the femur the angle of the neck is diminished, and the natural 
torsion of the bone is increased, the lower half becoming arched 
forwards or outwards. 

In the leg both bones are affected. The deformity never oecitr» 
in the upper part of the tibia, but at its middle and inferior portion. 
The most common is the curvature internally, which M. Broca 
compares to a yataghan ; the bone is flattened from before back- 
wards, its anterior border is more or less sunk in; its external 
concave border is sharp ; the internal, to which is attached the' 
interosseous aponeurosis, is thick. The next form is that of an 
antero-posterior curvature, the section of which is triangular, and the 
anterior border is convex from above downwards, and sharper than 
usual j it has the appearance of a sabre, but in an opposite direction. 
The curvature outwards or backwards is also met with, but less 
frequently. N^umbers 2 and 3, Fig. 20, copied from the memoir 
in Avhich M. Broca had to contradict M. Pruner-Bey relative to the 
pretended rickety deformities in the bones of the Eyzies, exliibit the 
two most common forms. 

Eickets exhibits its effect on the cranium in a very decided way. 
It causes the process of ossification to be suspended, and at a later 
period it accelerates and perverts it. Two absolutely o]3posite results 
are produced, the one retarding the evolution of the sutures, the 
other hastening it. It is evident that rickets sometimes exists during 
the period of intra-uterine life. All do not allow this, but it is 
certain that some analogous disorder passes at this period into the 
bones, traces of which remain during the whole of life. If this | 
condition is cured spontaneously by an acceleration of the process I 
of ossification, like true rickets, we should have in it a simple [ 
explanation of a series of cranial deformities depending on the 
development of the bones, for which the usual theories would not 
account. The effects of rickets when it unexpectedly comes on j 



Chap, t.] 



EICKETS OF THE CRANIUM. 



169 



after birth are better understood. Giving warning of its approach 
before the fontanelles and the fibro-cartilaginons laminse which give 
form to the bones during the process of ossification are sufficiently 
consohdated, rickets causes them to become soft, lessens their 
resistance, leaving the cranium to struggle against the continual 
growth of its contents. Here and there the osseous parietes become 
thinned and even perforated ; bulgings are formed from the moment 
that the work has a tendency to begin again, new and independent 
points of ossification make their appearance, which later on produce 
the ossa Wormiana. M. Bouvier says, " when the bregmatic fon- 
tanelle is not closed at two-and-a-half years of age, it is caused by 
rickets," Should the disease unexpectedly make its appearance at 




72.2 7i\ 




'n^.Z. 




Fig, 20.— Section of the tibia at the union of the upper fourth with the lower three-fourths. 
No. 1, Normal triangular tibia ; 2, Rickety tibia at its lateral curvatvire ; 3, Rickety- 
tibia at its antero-posterior curvature ; I, Internal border ; E, External border ; A, 
Anterior border or crest of the tibia ; A ' E T, No. 2, shows the way in which the 
deformity is produced. 

a later period, when the sutures are more advanced, the effects are 
different. Subsequently a cure takes place by a kind of porous or 
condensed callus, ossification proceeds with undue energy, especially 
in the serratures, and a condition of things is brought about in one 
or several of the sutures which ought only to exist naturally at or 
beyond 40 years of age — premature synostosis. 

A loss of balance between the resistance of the parietes of the 
cranium and the increasing development of its contents is the prin- 
cipal cause of its pathological deformities. It is sufficient that one 
of these causes should be at work for the bones and even for the 
brain to become diseased. The parietes become softened, or at a 
later period prematurely consolidated, whereas the brain remains 
sound and goes on increasing naturally ; deformity is making its 



1 

ases ■ 



170 HYDEOCEPHALUS. [Chap. 

appearance. If the parietes are passing tlirongh their regular phases 
of development while hydrocephalus or hypertrophy of the brain is 
going on, the same result may be produced. The causes of the 
phenomena are simple while their results are complex. 






Hydi ■oceplialus. 

Hydrocephalus is dropsy, or an increased secretion of fluid, in the 
cranial cavity, whether this fluid has its source in the ventricles 015 
between the membranes. 

It is acute or chronic, the chronic form being either very serious 
in amount, moderate, or slight. If the acute form exists to anj 
considerable extent it is speedily fatal. A certain Cardinal, how- 
ever, lived to be twenty-three ("?) years of age ; his head resembled a 
large ball, and from the base of the forehead to the occiput 
measured 87 centimetres in circumference. In its moderate and 
chronic form it is interesting to the anthropologist in two ways 
either the hydrocephalus comes on shortly after birth, when the 
sutures offer no obstacle to the distention of the head, and the 
skull on recovery is easily distinguished by its generally spherical 
shape ; or it makes its appearance at a later period, when the 
membranous spaces between the sutures are more or less ossified 0: 
serrated, and then the arched projections are more limited in extent, 
and only appear at certain points. We may also mention, but 
with some reserve, a condition of partial hydrocephalus, in which) 
owing to adhesions between the membranes, the fluid- accumulates 
at particular spots in the form of cysts, or the bones give way, or 
become altered, as in the preceding case, at some special point. 

The principal causes of hydrocephalus are the bad constitution 
of the parents, or hereditary predisposition. Franck mentions the 
fact of seven infants following, and Goslis of six, being attacked 
with this disease. Its symptoms are easily recognised : the sutures 
are wide and very slow in closing; the bones become thinned, 
ossification is arrested, and a species of local rickets, confined to the; 
cranium, comes on as a complication. 

General hydrocephalus, which comes on after birth, and is sub- 



Chap, v.] CEEEBRAL HYPEETROPHY. 171 

sequeiitly amenable to treatment, is recognised at once by the 
globular form of the cranium. That of the second or third kind 
is more difficult to diagnose, owing to the existence in both of the 
following characters : The frontal protuberances are projecting, 
or rather the whole forehead is so ; the temporal shells present at 
their centre a rounded arching, or the superior border is detached 
from the parietal. The supra-occipital region forms an ovoid pro- 
jection, which communicates with the parietal surfaces by an abrupt 
inclined plane, in the thick portion of which we see a number of 
ossa Wormiana. The retro-mastoid sutures are complicated ; the 
sagittal and coronal, as well as the union of the greater wings of the 
•sphenoid with the parietal, are thickened, or raised, or interrupted 
by ossa Wormiana. Frequently a transverse channel, from one 
surface of the greater wing of the sphenoid to the other, and which 
is not readily found, passes across the bregma, and seems to divide 
the cranium into two parts, each of which is increased in size ; the 
orbital vault is pressed downwards. M. Broca mentions as 
important signs — when they exist — a primary circumscribed arch- 
ing at the anterior border of the temporal shell, encroaching upon 
the adjacent portion of the pterion, and another arching at a point 
which he calls the dacrion, that is to say at the internal surface 
of the orbit at the union of the frontal, the ascending process of 
the maxillary and the os unguis. 

Hypertro])hy.^ 

Hypertrophy as well as atrophy of the brain are disorders of 
development of the substance of that organ, which generally 
produce their effects upon the parietes of the brain-case. It assumes 
the form of an acute or chronic disease, or of a sub-physiological 
condition, and is frequently induced by excessive work which 
parents exact from their children before they are fully developed. 
That which comes on during life or at its close does not concern us 
here ; that which appears during intra-uterine life, or soon after 
birth, has a most important influence on the evolution of the 
cranium. M. Baillarger has seen a case of hypertrophy in which 



172 PEEMATUEE SYNOSTOSES. [Chap, v, 

the body weighing 23 kilogrammes, the brain weighed 1160' 
grammes j and another in which at four years of age this organ 
weighed 1305 grammes. Hypertrophy is general, or partial; it 
affects the whole encephalon, the brain, a single hemisphere, a 
single lobe, the corpus callosum, or a group of convolutions. The 
causes which produce it are such as produce hydrocephalus or 
rickets, and the effects of the three diseases are similar. The 
inflammation which more particularly causes hypertrophy or hydro- 
cephalus sometimes passes to the parietes of the cranium throng] 
the membranes, producing porous or condensed callus, and 
arrest in the ossification of the sutures or their premature obliteK 
tion, although the natural effect of each of these maladies 
distention of the cranium. 



Premature Synostoses. 

Deformities of the most varied description result from all th^ 
above-mentioned causes, and from the unequal method in which 
they exercise their influence upon the sutures. The arrest of the! 
ossification of the sutures is, however, less serious than their pre- 
mature obliteration. The temporary sutures of intra-uterine life, as | 
the interparietal and metopic, persist for an indefinite period with-j 
out resulting in any appreciable deformity ; and moreover this per-j 
sistence is regarded by some persons as the j)robable indication or 
some disorder in the new-born infant. Stahl has seen the breg- 
matic fontanelle open in a man of 50 years of age, but he does not I 
say whether he presented any other peculiarity. The result of an I 
arrest of the ordinary ossification at the edges of the sutures is that I 
there is an increase of the volume of the cranium, which is not i 
sensibly deformed. The effects of premature synostoses are more I 
serious, but they vary according to the period at which they are 1 
produced. Of a grave character Avhen the synostosis takes place in 
early infancy, their gravity diminishes subsequently, and gradually 
disappears when the brain has arrived at or near its full term of 
development. 






Chap, v.] PREMATURE SYNOSTOSES. 173 

M. Virchow'^ has attempted to formulate a general law: "At 
ijhe end of the synostosis of a suture," he says, " the development 
of the cranium stops short in a direction perpendicular to that of 
the closed suture "• — that is to say, the sagittal suture being closed, 
the cranium remains narrower and developes in length. His 
second proposition is that " of all the parts of the cranium, the . 
base, and notably the basilar vertebrae, attain the largest amount of 
development." 

Two other statements of the same author ought to be recorded. 
Cretinism, according to him, is due ' to the synostosis of the tri- 
basilar bone — that is to say, of the spheno-basilar suture and the 
suture of the body of the anterior sphenoid and the posterior 
sphenoid. This is why cretins have the occipital shortened, and 
the base of the nose sunk in. JS'either the one nor the other is 
proved to demonstration. Cruveilhier has refuted by anticipation 
the explanation givenas to microce]ohalus; the facts collected bv 
M. Vogt do not establish it, and the specimens in the laboratory 
of M. Broca contradict it. 

Let us give some examples of our own. 

Should the spheno-frontal suture be synostosed, the forehead 
not having the power to become further enlarged, will remain 
contracted while the rest of the cranium continues to increase. 
Should the sagittal and coronal sutures be ossified, the lambdoidal 
and inferior lateral remaining free, the vault at the cranium will 
become lifted up e?i masse (acrocephalus), and the increased 
development will be at the expense of the occipital ]3ortion. A'\^e 
are acquainted with two examples of this kind. In another 
cranium we witness the contrary : the sagittal and the lambdoidal 
are synostosed, and it is the frontal which is driven forwards, the 
vault of the cranium being at the same time raised. Another 
cranium exhibits better still what is taking place : all the lateral, 
posterior, and anterior sutures are welded together, with the 
exception of the anterior tAvo-thirds of the sagittal, and the internal 
two-thirds of the coronal on the left side. What is the result ? 

■* Yirchow, " Gesammelte Abhandlungen," Frankfort, 1856 ; and "Unter- 
sucliungen iiber die Entwickelang der Sctoedelgrundes," Berlin, 1857. 



174 



SCAPHOCEPHALUS. 



[Chap, y. 



The anterior and internal lialf of the left parietal is lifted up above 
the level of the neighbouring surfaces. It is unnecessary to iDro- 
ceed farther. What we always notice is an internal pressure at 
one point, exerting its influence at the part in the immediate 
vicinity where it meets with the least resistance, and producing at 1 
the first point an arrest of development, and at others one or more 
compensatory archings (voussures de compensation). What fre- 
quently surprises us is to notice a similar synostosis in two different 
skulls, and one only to be deformed. This depends on the age at 




Fig. 21. — Scaphocephalic cranium of a Negress from Senegal. 



which the lesion is produced. Dr. Thulie has presented to the- 
Societe d'Anthropologie a cranium Avhich possesses considerable 
interest in this respect. An accidental bony callus was present on-i 
one of the parietals, and had synostosed the sagittal and coronal 
suture on one side only, notwithstanding which the cranium was- 
perfectly uniform j this, as well as other indications, showed that 
the welding had taken place at 15 or 20 years of age. We 
must also remember that we are only looking at the external 
surface of the cranium, and that in certain unaccountable 
deformities there may exist on the internal surface incomplete 



Chap, v.] SCAPHOCEPHALUS. 17& 

syiiostose which escape observation. We will conclude by giving 
a classical example of synostosis. 

Scaphocephalus signifies a deformity peculiar to the cranium ^ 
and is characterised by its contraction transversely, its antero- 
posterior elongation, and its increase in height. The skull turned 
upside down has the form of a boat, from which its name is- 
derived; the forehead is straight, bulging, and narrow; the 
occipital is globular and conical, and projects backwards from the 
lambdoidal suture. An horizontal crest reaches from one to the 
other on the anterior half, the sides shelving like the roof of a 
house, which the obliteration of the parietal protuberances renders 
still more prominent. In two specimens presented to the Societe 
d' Anthropologic, the length was to the width as 56 : 100 in one,, 
and as 60 : 100 in the other. These are the faintest cephalic 
indices hitherto observed on the human cranium. 

Four opinions are put forward in explanation of this pheno- 
menon i"^ (1) According to M. Virchow, it is due to synostosis, 
during infancy, of the sagittal suture, the other sutures remaining, 
open. (2) According to MM. Minchin and Von Baer, it proceeds 
from there being but one point of ossification for both parietals — 
an hypothesis which has but few supporters. (3) According ta 
M. Morselli, there are two distinct parietals, but their two points, 
of ossification are so near together that their fusion quickly 
takes place. (4) M. Calori thinks that it is the result of an 
original elongation and narrowness of the cranium. The four may 
be reduced to two, namely, the fusion of the two parietals and 
peculiar formation from the first. Mr. Barnard Davis is opposed 
to the former from the fact that in his collection, out of 27 crania 
Avith the sagittal suture closed, there are only four scaphocephali. 
In the laboratory of M. Broca there are many examples of pre- 
mature obliteration of the sagittal suture, without scaphocephalus. 
In a Tartar skull belonging to Mr. Huxley, which is one of the 
largest known, the sagittal suture is closed, and the others are 
open. But there is an easy reply to objections : the synostosis of 

■■ See " Eevue d'Anthropologie," vol. iii., p. 709 ; " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.,'"' 
meeting of May 7j 1874 j and " Instructions Graniologiques." 



176 PATHOLOGICAL DEFOEMITIES. [Chap. v. 

the sagittal only produces an arrest of development of the vault in 
a transverse direction and compensatory increase in length, that is 
to say scaphocephalus, before the age of from 8 to 12 years {Br oca). 
At two years of age its effects are almost inevitable. A case is , 
mentioned in which the deformity existed even at birth, ^o case I 
of scaphocephalus has been published up to the present time in 1 
which obliteration of the sagittal had not taken place. 



Pathological Deformit ies. 

Various terms, chiefly of foreign origin, have been employed td 
designate the principal cranial forms produced by the causes just| 
mentioned. Similar names are given to certain physiological! 
forms which are met with as characteristic of certain races. Here,! 
from the physiological to the morbid condition, as with respect to I 
so many disorders and other affections of the brain, the transition! 
is scarcely perceptible. In how many skulls, looked upon as 
sound, is there not present this globular supra-iniac projection of 
the occipital, which is sometimes a characteristic of race, and at 
others an evidence of hydrocephalus or of premature synostosis'? 
One of the Esquimaux skulls in the museum, regular otherwise, at 
least in appearance, deserves the epithet of scaphocephalus. The 
term has been similarly applied to the normal skulls of Australians, 
Polynesians, and African negroes. The following are some of the 
terms just referred to, with their signification : 

Acroceplialic, oxyceplialic, hypsoceplialic, pyrgocephalic, elevated skull. 

Platycephalic, tapinocephalic, with tlie vault of the skull flattened, 
elliptical. 

Eurycephalic, large skull. 

Steuocephalic, narrow skull. 

Trochocephalic, very round skull. 

Trigonocephalic, skull triangular at the top anteriorly, supposed to be 
owing to the medio-frontal synostosis. 

Megalocephalic, skull of very large capacity. 

Kephalon, large skull, great [Virchow). 

Septocephalic, microcephalic, small skull. 

Macrocephalic, elongated skull. 



Chap, v.] POSTHUMOUS DEFORMITIES. 177 

Plagio cephalic, an obliquely -"Oval deformity (Virclioic) , large stuU with 
forehead flattened {LinncBus, Bush) . 

CyHndrocephalic, elongated cylindrical skull. 

Klinocephalic, skull with vault in form of a saddle. 

CymbocephaliCj kumbecephalic, an exaggeration of the preceding, or skull 



ScaphocephaliCj sphenocephalio, boat-shaped skull. 
Pachycephalic, skull with thick hypertrophied parietes. 

Many of these are frequently associated together. Van der Hoeven, 
for example, says tliat the skulls from the Caroline Archipelago, 
certain of the Hebrides, and 'New Caledonia, are hypsistenocephalic ; 
Barlow, that a certain deformed skull found in Silesia is oxyklino- 
cephalic. As we proceed we shall find other names, equally 
derived from the Greek, which are more generally in use. 

There are not only pathological deformities ; there are others 
with which the anthropologist ought to be acquainted, which he 
frequently meets with in certain skulls in the course of his cranio- 
metrical studies, and which he is obliged to put aside. 



Posthumous, Platyhasic, and Plagiocejyhalic Deformities. 

The first, or posthumous, is easily recognised. It is produced in 
more or less moist argillaceous soils by the pressure of the earth 
which has been exerted upon the softened skull at intervals for 
ages. The skull is said to have the consistence of soft wax, being 
variously shaped according to the nature of the soil in which it 
is enveloped."^' One wall might be more or less depressed or 
sheered round, while the opposite wall might be exactly the 
reverse. Or the pressure might be local. Sometimes an entire 
bone might be irregularly furrowed. Its principal characteristic is 
the absence of regularity and symmetry. 

The second has been called plastic by Mr. B. Davis, a term more 
conformable with the preceding, and platyhasic by M. Broca. It 
makes its appearance unexpectedly at all periods of life, but princi- 

* "Fouilles d'un Cimetiere Bourguignon du Cinquieme Siecle," by Paul 
Topinard, in " Bull. See. d' Emulation de I'Ain." Burgundy, 1874. 



178 ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATIONS. [Chap. v. 

pally during infancy and old age, owing to a defective consistence 
of the bones at the circumference of the occipital foramen. The 
weight of the head is the immediate cause of it; the articular 
condyles, the circumference of the occipital foramen, and the 
adjoining portion of the basilar apophysis become bent, and 
penetrate into the cranial cavity about one centimetre or less. 
M. Broca considers that it is shown to exist in white races when 
the negative angle of Daubenton is more than eight degrees. 

The third takes place during infancy, but ' accidentally, either 
owing to the infant being constantly carried on the same arm, 
or by the pressure which the weight of the head exerts upon the 
entire occipital or upon one side of it when the infant is lying on 
its back. In the one case a median flattening, in the other a 
lateral depression of the whole of the nucha, is produced ; the skull 
continuing to develope, a compensatory arching (voussure de com- 
jyensation) is formed on the opposite side, and the maximum 
antero-posterior length of the skull becomes oblique or diagonal. 
This is termed the obliquely oval or plagiocephalic deformity. 
Other results also follow. Thus the synostosis of one-half of the 
sagittal and lambdoidal suture, certain chronic forms of torticollis, 
rickets, partial hydrocephalus, &c. 

Artificial Deformations. 

These are also due to pressure exerted during life. Sometimes 
they are produced involuntarily by badly - constructed head- 
dresses, sometimes voluntarily in order to conform to accustomed 
usage or to submit to certain rites. Man is an intelligent animal, 
but also a very w^himsical one. The structure of his brain incites 
him to the noblest deeds as well as to the most ridiculous practices, 
such as cutting off the little finger, scorching the soles of the feet, 
extracting the front teeth, or deforming the head, because others 
have done so before him. 

Artificial deformations of this kind are simply customs, and con- 
sequently might have been treated of in our second part when con- 
sidering ethnic characters; but it is difficult to separate them 



Chap, v.] ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATIONS. 1V9 

from deformities produced by other causes, and we ought to be 
acquainted with them before commencing to practise craniometry 
on normal skulls. 

They are met with in both hemispheres. Hippocrates and 
Herodotus were the first to describe them among the Macrocephales, 
a people to the east of the Palus-Moeotis, to which custom they 
owe their name. Aristotle, Strabo, and Pliny also make mention 
of them. Within the last few years there have been discovered 
in the Caucasus, in the Crimea, in Hungary, in Silesia, in Belgium, 
and in various parts of France, ancient and contemporaneous 
deformed skulls, agreeing in type with those which have been 
mentioned. "We conclude, therefore, in comparing these data with 
those with which history furnishes us, that the Aryan nations 
with one of their tribes having this custom have passed over the 
Yolskes-Tectosages of the Caucasus under the name of Cimmerii, 
through Europe into France, where the processes of disfigurement 
have become modified in the way we have mentioned. Other 
skulls, however, have been met with in Europe, as the Helveto- 
Burgundian skull of Voiteur in the Jura, in the form of a sugar- 
loaf ; and perhaps that of Bel- Air, near Lausanne, in Switzerland, 
the nature of whose deformity is difi'erent, which leads us to 
believe that all the European peoples disfiguring their heads have 
not had the same origin. Deformations of the skull have been 
discovered in Polynesia, especially in Tahiti, in Malacca, and in 
different parts of Asia as far as Syria. 

But the classic country in which these deformations are found is 
America. From a period prior to the Christian era, we see a nation, 
the Naliuas, leaving Florida, according to Brasseur de Bourbourg, 
to settle in Mexico, and quitting it in the year 174 to disperse, 
some to the north, along the Mississippi, others to the south, across 
the Isthmus of Panama, and there disseminating the custom of 
flattening the head from behind forwards. Other deformations of a 
diff'erent type are met with in the same country, which it seems 
reasonable to refer to another primitive people. From these devia- 
tions from one and the same custom, we may infer that its origin 
dates back to a very remote period. They practised it during 

X 2 



180 AKTIFICIAL DEFOEMATIONS. [Cpiap. v. 

infancy on both sexes, and sometimes on the male only, by very 
different methods. Sometimes the infant Aras fastened on a plank, 
or a sort of cradle with leather straps ; or they applied pieces of clay, 
pressing them down with small boards on the forehead, the vertex, 
and the occiput, according to the particular object they had in vieAv. 
Sometimes the head was kneaded with the hands or the knees, or, 
the infant being laid on the back, the elbow was pressed on the 
forehead. Circular bands were sometimes employed to support the 
sides of the head. Sometimes they had recourse to some other 
method, which they carried out in another way. Each people, 
each tribe, each family had its various methods by which they 
might be recognised. In Vancouver's Island and the neighbour- 
ing islands, three very different types have been noticed side 
by side. 

The infant sometimes dies during the process, and when it sur- 
vives, it does so to the detriment of the intellectual faculties. The 
intellect, however, does not seem generally to be so much affected 
as Vv'^e might have supposed. Even the cranial capacity is not 
diminished, because the brain, if it does not accommodate itself 
when pressure is forcibly exerted on it, is capable of resisting slow, 
partial, and progressive pressiu?e. It has been asked whether in 
the course of time these deformations become hereditary. The ques- 
tion has generally been answered in the negative, notwithstanding 
which we would not assert that certain brachycephales did not 
originate in this way. 

M. Gosse has described sixteen species of artificial deformation, 
ten of which were in American skulls, which he afterwards reduces 
to five. M. Lnnier admits seven species. "^ 

We shall reduce the most interesting and the most common of 
them to two, the one dresse, the other couclie, comprising each of 
the species and the varieties. Moreover, there are but few of these 
which can be taken apart from the rest ; all of them seem to have 

* Gosse, " Essai sur les Deformations Artificielles du Crane," Paris, 1855 ; 
and "Presentation d'un Crane Deforme de IsTahua," in "Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 
vol. ii., 1871 ; Lxmier, Article " Deformations Artificielles du Crane," in 
*'Nouv. Diet, de Med. et Chirurg. Pratiques," 1869. 



Chap, v.] AETIMCIAL DEFORMATIOis'S. 181 

gradations of form of tlie most opposite character, and it would "be 
difficult to determine what name to give to them. 

It is, however, from their being so characteristic, and of forms 
with which we have become so familiar, that they enable ns to 
recognise the people to which the skull belongs. 

In the first kind, more or less forcible pressure and counter- 
pressure, varying also in height and in extent, have been exerted 
at the two extremities of the skull, thus shortening the antero- 
posterior and lengthening the vertical and frequently the transverse 
diameter. 

In the second kind, the length is, on the contrary, increased. 
Whether the deformations be symmetrical or asymmetrical is imma- 
terial ; sometimes we should expect the latter, but most frequently this 
would be involuntary and the result of a badly-conducted operation. 

When in the first kind, the dresse, the most continuous pressure 
was exerted on a gxeat extent of the occipital, while at the forehead 
there was only, slight counter-pressure, the result was simple occipital 
deformation, or a vertical occiput. This is observed on the coasts of 
Peru, among some Puelchas, in one of the tribes of the Vancouver 
Archipelago, in Malacca, and even in France. If the sides of the 
skull were at the same time compressed or supported, we should 
get the quadrangular deformation met with in South America, and 
among the Paws mentioned by Morton. The pressure on the 
occipital being increased, and that of the forehead being continued, 
we should arrive at the raised cuneiform deformation {deformation 
cuneiforme relevee) of Gosse, which is characteristic of the ^ahuas, 
their descendants the JSTatchez, certain of the Chinooks, and, in 
another part of the world, the Tahitians. The most celebrated 
variety is the deformation triloMe, in the form of a trefoil, of the 
Island of Sacrificios, in the Gulf of Mexico, which is produced by 
a supplementary band beginning at the occiput, passing up over 
the median line, and bifurcating in the middle of the sagittal suture 
to reach the temporal fossaB. Things remaining thus, if the frontal 
pressure is made higher the middle lobe disappears, and we have 
the cordiforni deformity and not the bilobed, because it would 
become amalgamated with another of which we shall speak presently. 



182 AETIFICIAL DEFOEMATIONS. [Chap. v. 

In the laboratory of M. Broca tliere are sixteen beautifnl specimens 
of this from Ancona, Peru, &c. 

In the second kind, or coiiclie, the frontal pressure was greater,, 
it being exerted over the whole surface of the bone, while the 
occipital counter-pressure was exerted lower, was very slight, or none 
at all (the ]pomt d'aj)xmi then passed through the vertebral column) : 
the skull therefore became elongated behind without obstruction. 
In the generality of cases, however, a supplementary pressure was 
made on the vertex. Hence we find on the upper surface of these 
skulls, from before backwards ; (1) a frontal depression or flattening ; 

(2) a bregmatic projection; (3) a post-bregmatic depression; (4) a swel- 
ling formed by the whole mass of the receding skull. The flattening 
of the forehead — which is sometimes immoderately receding, as in 
rig. 19, representing the Aztecs — took the name, among certain 
peoples, of deformation of courage {deformation du courage). In the 
kind termed dresse, the forehead was more frequently widened and 
more elevated ; in this, it is usually narrower, longer, and lower. 
One of the consequences of this is that the roof of the orbits is 
depressed, and that the eyeballs are raised by being made to project. 
There are three species of this deformation or distortion : (1) The- 
cuneiform deformation (deformation cuneifo'rme coucMe) of Gosse^. 
which is very marked in the Caribs of the Antilles, the northern 
Guaranis, and some ISTorth American tribes near Vancouver's 
Island. The majority of Chinooks and other flat-heads {tetes plates) 
from the Columbia river, described by Morton, are in the same 
category. (2) The elongated symmetrical deformation {deformation 
symetrique allongee) of Morton, in use among the ancient Aymaras. 

(3) The macrocephalic deformation {dJformation macrocepliale) of 
Europe, which in France has given origin to the annular (anmdaire) 
variety of Foville,"^ and the bilobed (bilohee) of Lunier — observed 
in the departments of the Lower Seine and the two Sevres — and 
to the simple frontal or Toulousian {ToidousaineyY&Tietj, so named 
from the country in Avliich it has been specially noticed. (Fig. 22.) 
In the annular, the band extends from a point behind the bregma, 

* See also " La Deformation allongee et cylindrique " of Foville, of whicli 
tiie annular is a variety, in " Anat. Syst. Nerveux " of Foville. Paris, 1844. 



ClIAP. v.] 



DEFOEMATION OF THE AYMAEAS. 



vertically below the chin, by crossing a circular furrow which 
divides the head into two portions ; these being less decided in the 
annular than in the bilobed variety. In the Toulousian, the line 
starts from the occiput, reaches the forehead obliquely, and there 
exerts its principal pressure.* The macrocephalic unites the two 
systems, so that the frontal depression of the Toulousian and the 
post-bregmatic depression of the annular exist there, the two being 
separated by a bregmatic projection. 

We must say it is often difficult to distinguish certain macro- 
cephalic skulls of the Crimea from certain elongated crania from 




Fig. 22.— Artificial deformation of the skull, caUed Toulousaine. 



the country of the ancient Aymaras. Among the deformations not 
included with the two preceding kinds, and Avhich Gosse describes, 
we may mention the nasal deioim.B,tion (deformation nasale) or flatten- 
ing of the bones of the nose, practised by the Botocudos of America, 
and the naso-parietal {deformation naso-parietale) or Mongolian, 
peculiar to the ancient Huns and to certain Kirghis. 

We have said that the types of ethnic deformations of the skull 
present gradations, whereby they are at times insensibly trans- 
formed into other types, although their general character remains. 

* " Sur la Deformation Toulotisaine du Crane," by M. Broca, in "Bull. 
Soc. d'Anthrop.," 1871. 



184 DErOEMATION OF THE AYMAEAS. [Chap. v. 

The skulls which are met with in Upper Peru and Bolivia, and are 
generally attributed to the Aymaras, are proofs of this. Their 
varieties may be reduced to three. In the first, almost the entire 
skull is thrown backwards, and has the appearance of being recum- 
bent icouclie) horizontally. The most striking exanij^le of this 
which has been under our notice, and which belonged to M. Broca's 
laboratory, projects 89 millimetres backwards behind the opisthion, 
while in 20 Europeans', taken at random, the same projection is 
68 millimetres ; but the skull in this species is not always so couclie, 
and we have noticed in others that the sub-occipital region is better 
supported. In the second species, the most common and most classic 
among the Aymaras, the sub-occipital counter-pressure is a little 
higher, and is more perceptible, and the more compact lateral bands, 
which are readily recognised by their impression, prevent the skull 
from spreading at the sides. Thus the extremity of the skull which 
corresponds to the obelion, or to the interval which separates it from 
the lambda, is conical, and constricted at the base by a circular 
furrow which starts from the occiput and bifurcates on each side, 
one portion tending towards the region of the frontal protuberances 
and the other to the vertex. The varieties of this species differ in 
the degree of obliquity, above and behind, of the great posterior 
axis of the skull and of the cone in question. In the most oblique 
form the recumbent deformation (clecoucliee) has become raised. In 
the example which we have seen lately, the projection behind the 
opisthion is not more than 58 millimetres, that is to say, it is as 
much diminished as in the preceding case it was increased. In 
order to account for the difference in these two cases, we must com- 
pare together the following measurements, viz. : their post-opisthiac 
projection, their maximum vertical projection, and their maximum 
antero-posterior diameter. The first, which shows the elongation, 
and the second, the straight character of the skull, are expressed in 
hundredths of the antero-posterior diameter. In the first example, 
the index of the projection backwards is 44*6 and that of the 
height 77*6; and in the second, the one is 34*3 and the other 
92 "9. This proves that the deformation gains in horizontal projection 
in the former case what it loses in vertical in the latter. In the 



Chap, v.] DEFORMATION OF THE NAHUAS. 185 

third species, wliicli varies as to inclination, all tlie. bands which, 
compressed the sides have disappeared, or at least are scarcely per- 
ceptible. The lateral furroAvs are wanting, traces of the frontal 
pressure alone remain ; the skull is swollen above and behind the 
auditory foramina, and the whole deformation has the appearance of 
an egg with its larger extremity posteriorly. This most resembles 
the macrocephalic deformity of the Caucasian skulls. Notwith- 
standing these varieties, we discover in the three species that a 
similar method of proceeding has been employed, and for a similar 
object, which is characteristic of the Aymara race, and which 
distinguishes it at once from the race of Ancona and also from 
that of Peru, in which the head is plainly raised up by a flattening 
from behind forwards. From this fact alone we should conclude 
that the peoples of Ancona belonged to tlje conquering race, which 
in Florida bore the name of JSTahuas, and of which the Toltecs of 
Mexico, the Natchez of the Mississippi, and the Totonacks of 
Sacrificios are other representatives. 

Conclusion. 

Our first part being completed thus far, in which we have con- 
sidered Man zoologically in his ensemble, and having taken special 
notice of his varieties, it remains for us to give an answer to the 
question propounded at the close of our preliminary remarks : 
What place does Man occupy in the class of mammalia % Is he to 
be classified in an order or in a family 1 We cannot too frequently 
reiterate that Man, owing to his intellectual powers, occupies the 
first place in creation, and is its culminating point as a marvel pf 
organisation ; he therefore exercises upon the planet of which he is 
an inhabitant a rightful dominion over all living beings. But we 
must also remember that there does not seem any radical difference 
between him and those most nearly related to him — the anthropoid 
apes. Anatomically, they possess the same organs, constructed and 
arranged in the same way, there being only secondary shades of 
difference between them. The feet, the hands, the vertebral 
column, the thorax, the pelvis, the organs of sense — all have the 



186 CONCLUSION. [Chap. v. 

same configm-ation. The brain also in its stmctnre and its 
convolutions is identical. Physiologically, the various functions 
are exercised in a similar manner ; even their diseases are alike. All 
the important differences between them reside in the volume of the 
brain, which is three times more developed in Man, and in his 
faculties, the due adjustment and co-ordination of which give him 
the judgment, the reason, and the understanding, which are the 
noblest if not the brightest gems in his crown. An Emeritus 
professor relates that one day finding himself alone on Mont Blanc, 
at the halting-place of the Grands Mulcts, he cast his eye over the 
depth of the abyss which separated him from Chamounix, and 
which the Glacier des Bossons rendered impassable. Some intelli- 
gent guides, however, had discovered a number of invisible paths, 
which connected these two points, and so assured their communica- 
tion. Such, said he, is the nature of the abyss which separates 
Man from animals. 

The comparison is ingenious, but scarcely correct. The characters 
which Man and animals possess in common are manifest to all, 
and no one would have had any doubt on the subject if their .serenity 
had not been disturbed by biblical legends or by philosophical specu- 
lations. The modes of transition, the anomalies which produce in 
one that which is normal, in others a strict identity in the majority 
of the organs, only slightly differing as to form, all indicate that 
unity of arrangement of which Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire speaks. What 
should we say if, instead of their being reduced to the human and 
simian forms which time had bequeathed to us, Ave had to arrange 
those which were intermediate, and which had escaped us ? 

Whatever his past may have been, Man now appears before us 
as forming a circumscribed zoological group, to which it is proper 
to give a name in our classification. What is it to be 1 

In the preceding pages, we have been led to recognise the exist- 
ence of particular types in each zoological division or subdivision. 
First, we found a general type proper to all mammalia, that is to 
say, an ensemUe of character common to men and animals, which, 
whilst distinguishing them collectively, unites them with birds and 
reptiles, as if all had been formed in one and the same mould, and 



Chap, v.] CONCLUSIOK. 187 

diversity liad supervened subsequently. Then, laying aside that 
wliicli is foreign to our purpose, a general type common to all the 
monkey tribe, and to which Man assimilates infinitely more than to 
that of the carnivori or ruminants. Lastly, in this simian group we 
found a succession of dissimilar types : first, that of lemurs, but 
slightly homogeneous, ill-defined, and showing a preference on the 
one side to certain cheiroptera and insectivora, and on the other to 
some species of cebians, or monkeys of the new continent ; a second 
type, better defined and brought to greater perfection ; then a third 
type, that of pithecians, or monkeys of the old continent, divorcing 
itself from the second, and in which the particular traces of 
resemblance to Man are more apparent. 

Up to this point, the three simian types follow each other in a 
regular gradation of succession. But after the third there is a 
bound ; the j)ithecians have less resemblance to the anthropoid 
apes than to the cebians. The general type of the anthropoids is 
indeed altogether different and very marked, but it bears the closest 
resemblance to that of Man. The conclusions we formed at each 
step were, that many a characteristic so similar in monkeys of- the 
three inferior groups, and in quadrupeds, is different in the anthro- 
poid ; and the physiognomy assumes a resemblance to -that which it 
presents in Man. In a word, the type of character changes as we 
pass from the pithecians to the anthropoids ; their degree or their 
quantity alone varying as we pass from the anthropoids to Man. 
The real differences between these last may be reduced to two, 
which are not of equal value : (1) Man always stands erect. The 
anthropoid ape sometimes holds himself erect and sometimes goes on 
all -fours j and in the latter case he makes use of his anterior 
extremities as hands — as we should do in that attitude — and not as 
feet. The variations in their respective skeletons, muscles, viscera, 
as Avell as their direction of vision, depend on it. (2) The brain 
of Man is three times as large ; hence the development of his 
intellectual faculties, of his faculty of language, and of his facial 
angle. 

Apart from these two points, and from everything which they 
involve, we can only discover resemblances between Man and the 



188 COlN^CLUSIOIT. [Chap. v. 

anthropoids, and tlie following question naturally arises : Among 
the four classes of anthropoids, is there one more than another 
which approaches to Man 1 

The gibbon may be set aside. In respect to his cerebral con- 
volutions and the vertebral column, taken as a whole he is really 
superior ; but as regards the proportions of his extremities, the 
narrowness of his pelvis, the arrangement of his muscles, the 
callosities on his buttocks, and his habits of living, he establishes 
the transition to the pithecians. 

The orang occupies an equally unfavourable position, by reason 
of certain anatomical characteristics which are pro^Der to him, by 
the proportions of his skeleton, and by his defective feet and hands; 
but he recovers it owing to his cerebral convolutions, his facial 
angle, the number of his ribs, his teeth, and perhaps also his 
intelligence. 

The chimpanzee is remarkable for the richness of his cerebral 
convolutions, the proportions of his skeleton, the disposition of his 
femurs, and the general physiognomy of his skull. 

Lastly, the gorilla has the volume of his brain in his favour ; 
the direction of his vision, his height, the general j)roportion of his 
limbs, the arrangement of his muscles, his hand, his foot, and his 
pelvis ; but he has thirteen pairs of ribs, a defective vertebral 
column, laryngeal sacs^ a diastema, and very large canines. Tor our 
part we rather decide in favour of the chimpanzee, and particularly 
of certain of his species ; but it is necessary that these should be 
better known. 

The elements upon which the leading arrangement of the 
zoological divisions should be based are: (1) a general type, common 
to all the mammalia; (2) a general sub-type, common to all monkeys 
proper, to the anthropoid, and to Man; (3) a particular type, common 
to these last two ; (4) the human type., The most striking fact in 
relation to this was brought forward at a remarkable discussion 
which took place in 1869, at a meeting of the fSociete d' Anthro- 
pologic. The question of doctrine having been carefully avoided, 
the conclusion was arrived at that the antliropoid apes more nearly 
approach Man anatomically than the monlxey^ next In order to them. 



Chap, v.] CONCLUSION. 189- 

Consequently tlie sepaxation to Ibe made at tlie extreme of tlie 
series, between the inferior monkeys and Man, cannot be logically 
placed between tlie anthropoid and the so-called common monkeys. 
This leads iis to Mr. Huxley's classification: (1) Man and the 
anthropoid apes ; (2) the monkeys of the old and new continents ; 
(3) lemurs. 

Eut we must necessarily draw a strong line of demarcation 
between Man and the anthropoids. Although the type common to 
both differs only in degree, that which concerns the brain has sa 
considerable a range that division becomes inevitable. Eut, to be 
logical, we must in the same way separate the monkey's of the old 
continent from those of the new, which have an equal claim to differ 
by reason of other characteristics ; and this leads u,s definitely to 
adopt the classification of M. Eroca : (1) Man; (2) the anthropoid 
apes; (3) pithecians ; (4) cebians; (5) lemurs. 

I^^ow these five grouj)s have nearly the same zoological value, 
and are separated from each other by equal intervals. United, they 
present an ensemble of common features, which separates them en 
masse from the carnivora as much as these are separated from the 
marsupialia or the cetacea. "We must then give to each of them 
equivalent leading titles, and to the whole collectively a title similar 
to that of carnivora, of marsupialia, or cetacea. They thus form five 
families in one and the same order — that of Primates. Consequently, 
Man forms one FAMILY ; the first in the OEDER of Primates, the 
first in the CLASS of Mammalia. 

It remains for us to inquire whether the divisions of this family 
are to be arranged as genera, as species, or as varieties. We shall 
decide this question after having examined the elements of the 
problem in our second part. 



PAET 11. 

OF THE RACES OF MANKIND. 



CHAPTEK I. 

SPECIES VAEIETY RACE CLASSIFICATION OF RACES PHYSICAL 

CHARACTERISTICS ANATOMICAL DESCRIPTION CRANIOLOGY 

DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERISTICS PROCESSES OF BLUMENBACH^ OF 

OWEN, OF PRICHARD — CRANIOMETRICAL CHARACTERISTICS — 
PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF EMPLOYING CRANIOMETRY. 

The divisions and siilbdivisions of the human family are designated 
in current language by the name of races ; and as such their study 
would not present greater difficulties than that of all other analo- 
gous divisions of natural history, but for the intrusion of questions 
of doctrine. Have these races ike value of species, of varieties, or 
even of genera ? This is the question. Before giving a reply we 
must pass in review: (1) the accepted definitions of all these terms ; 
(2) the classification of races ; (3) the particular characteristics upon 
which they rest ; (4) the principal physical types w^hich we may 
take for granted exist among mankind in general. 

Of Sjoecies. 

The main point of the dispute lies in the sense attached to 
this word, and to its exact limitation; which necessitates our 
bringing in a certain number of definitions, and these have the 
advantage of drawing the questions closer together. In determining 
the first series of definitions we shall be met at the very threshold 
with inherent difficulties. In the second is sketched out a principle 
pregnant with consequences — species are variable, without any 

o 



194 SPECIES. [Chap. i. 

precise limits, and become transformed in the course of time. In 
the last the contrary princij^le is maintained, namely, that species 
are immutable, and changes in them never pass beyond certain 
boundaries. 

"Under the denomination of- species," Eobinet writes in 1768, 
"naturalists embrace the aggregate of individuals which possess an 
amount of appreciable difference." 

" Species," says Agassiz, " is the last division of classification 
at which naturalists pause ; and this division is based upon the 
least important characteristics, such as form, colour, and propor- 
tions." 

" Species," according to Lamarck, " is the aggregate of indi- 
viduals like each other, whose offspring is perpetuated in the same 
condition, as long as circumstances of situation are not changed to 
such a degree as to alter their habits, their disposition, and their 
forms." 

" Species," says Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire subsequently, " is an 
aggregation or succession of individuals characterised by a uniformity 
of distinctive features, whose transmission is natural, regular, and 
unlimited in the ]present state of things." 

" Species," says Cuvier, " is the aggregate of all organised beings, 
descended from one original parentage, or from those which resemble 
them as far as they resemble each other." 

In the following definition of Prichard, in which especial refer- 
ence is made to the position assigned to Man, we perceive the 
dominance of orthodox ideas, and, at the same time, some amount 
of vagueness attributable to the influence of Lamarck. " Species," 
he remarks, "is an aggregate of individuals resembling each other, 
whose slight differences are explained by the influence of physical 
agencies, and who are descended from a primitive pair." This is 
the ancient monogenestic creed. 

M. de Quatrefages considers that the elements of the definition 
may be reduced to two, viz. : " the resemblance of individuals to 
each other, and their uninterrupted descent from a primitive 
group." It is not until subsequently that he admits, as a praqtical 
criterion of species, the result of inbreeding. " Individuals of the 



Chap, l] SPECIES. 195 

same species," lie remarks, " are alone capable of producing prolific 
oifsj)ring." This idea is precisely that of the old botanists Eay and 
De CandoUe. "What are we to think of these divergences 1 That 
species might really be nothing more than one of those "products 
of art " of which Lamarck speaks, and not a definite and absolute 
zoological association. Its most zealous partisans declare that it has 
but one criterion by which it may be recognised — the fecundity of 
individuals inter se, and their sterility with those of contiguous 
species. But this criterion has undergone many assaults of late 
years. Many species, admitted incontestably to be diverse from 
one another, have produced prolific offspring, unquestionably very 
prolific. Naturalists generally denied it at first, and held to the 
denial with pertinacious grasp, declaring that they were deceived, 
and that the pretended species were simply varieties. Be it so. 
The hare and the rabbit, the dog and the wolf, the camel and the 
dromedary are of the same species. But the distance between the 
goat and the sheep is greater ; they are genera, and by descending 
only one step they would only become species. JSTow their cross- 
breeds succeed well in Chili. The wild goat and the domestic 
goat are also different gen^era ; nevertheless, in the Pyrenees they 
produce mixed breeds,, which have been described by Count de 
Bouille. It appears that even the union of a heifer and a stag 
produced a hybrid, which was exhibited at an agricultural meeting 
in the department of Aisne. 

But it is not sufficient that there should be a cross-breed and 
progeny ; the criterion of species is that this progeny itself and its 
descendants should be fertile, and that the mongrels left to them- 
selves should never revert either to the paternal or maternal type. 
However, this is only one step in the mode of manifestation of an 
organic property, which we shall describe later on under the name 
of homogenesis, and which is the faculty that two germs of 
opposite sexes possess in different individuals of becoming reciprocally 
prolific, however great their zoological distance may be. Simple 
fecundity is the first step. The union of the hare and the rabbit 
furnishes an example of the most advanced step. The different 
species produce offspring of an intermediate character, termed 

2 



196 VARIETY. [Chap. i. 

leporides, which after twenty generations are still fixed, after 
repeated experiments both in France and Germany. 

The perpetuity of the type of species is secured, under these 
circumstances, by the faculty of individuals to intercross more 
successfully and to produce offspring, which in their turn continue 
to propagate those resembling themselves. H^o one disputes this. It 
is equally the rule that crossings outside the species are sterile, but 
in both cases there are exceptions which do not confirm the rule, 
and which increase in number the more closely we look at the 
matter ; exceptions which, reasoning by analogy, could not be fore- 
seen, and which are only learnt from experience. This more or less 
potent affinity between genera and species, and the more or less 
favoured varieties of mongrels resulting in consequence, prove at least 
that the barriers of species are not inviolable, and that the pre- 
tended criterion has nothing positive about it. 

Later on, when we are considering the degree of homogenesis of 
races in human cross-breeds, we must beware of gathering from 
them an argument either for or against their quality of species or 
variety. 

Of Variety. 

Under this name, devoid of all qualification, we usually under- 
stand an assemblage of individuals presenting common character- 
istics, and thereby distinguished from contiguous groups having ' 
other common characteristics, or those of a more general type. It 
is transient and accidental, or permanent. Teratological variety, and 
variety the result of the influence of external conditions, belong 
to the former. Apropos of the permanent variety, all kinds of 
difference of doctrine are observable. In the transformation 
schools of the present day no distinction is made between them and 
species. In the opposite school of olden time, that of Prichard for 
example, the two so far approach each other that their character- 
istics are altogether hereditary ; but whilst the permanent variety . 
is merely an accidental one which is fixed and determined, species 
had always existed, or at least had descended from a single pair. 



Chap, l] EACE, 197 



Of Race. 

The word has many acceptations, according to the particular 
doctrine embraced or the absence of doctrine. In the one case it 
corresponds to the permanent and secondary variety of Prichard, 
in the other it expresses so well-marked a zoological limit, that one 
is compelled to ask whether it is not confounded with species. In 
current language indeed it has a vague meaning, leaving aU the 
questions sub judice. 

"Eaces are hereditary varieties," remarks Adrien de Jussieu; 
and M. de Quatrefages says : "When the accidental characteristics 
w^hich distinguish a vegetable or an animal variety are transmitted 
by generation and become hereditary, then we have a race." 
" Zoologists and botanists are unanimous on th-is point," he goes on 
to say ; and further : " The race is the ensemble of individuals like 
each other, belonging to one and the same species, having received 
and transmitted by generation the characteristics of a primitive 
variety." Does M. de Quatrefages mean to say that it is quite 
primitive ; for, the disputed criterion of fecundity being set aside, 
how are we to distinguish primitive variety from species'? The 
accidental origin is pointed out precisely in this other definition. 
" Eace," says Isidore GeofFroy Saint-Hilaire, " is a succession of 
individuals springing from one another, and rendered distinct by 
undeviating characteristics."* 

M. G. Pouchet gives the word another acceptation, which is that 
of the ancient polygenists : " The word ' race ' designates the different 
natural groups of mankind." According to him they are so many 
species. There is a radical difference between this and admitting 
that certain races represent species, but that others are only per- 
manent varieties, t 

* " Revue des Cours Scientif., 1867-68 ;" " Lemons " of M. de Quatrefages, 
"Histoire Nat. G^n. des Regions Organiques," by Isidore Geoffroy Saint- 
Hilaire, 3 vols., Paris, 1859. 

t "De la Pluralite des Races Humaines," by Georges Pouchet. Second 
edition. Paris, 1864. 



198 CLASSIFICATION OF RACES. [Chap. i. 

Another way in wliich tlie word " race " is understood, or ratlier 
employed, is that set forth in the following definition of Prichard : 
" Under the name of races we include all assemblages of individuals 
presenting more or less common characteristics, transmissible by 
succession, the origin of these characteristics heing an unsettled 
question. " The term may thus be used indifferently and taken in 
its widest sense. It applies as well to more or less thoroughly- 
defined human varieties, or sub-varieties, as to species. Under its 
shadow every variety of opinion may recline j negroes in general 
may be looked upon as a race in the same way as Kaffirs or natives 
of the Gold Coast. We shall speak as a matter of convenience of 
pure, cross, mixed, primary, and secondary races. There will be 
anthropological and historical races, as well as those determined 
according to language. Some are lost in obscurity, and will only be 
-found by a diligent examination of every possible species of evidence; 
others will be seen under our very eyes, as the living races of 
Australia and America. At the moment when we ought to decide 
as to the number and value of races, we shall come to an orderly 
arrangement inspired by the teachings of our master, M. Broca, 
who says, " The varieties of mankind have received the name of 
races, wliich gives the idea of a more or less direct relationship 
between individuals of the same variety, but does not decide either 
affirmatively or negatively the question of the relationship between 
individuals of different varieties." '^ 

Eaces thus included, that is to say, the more or less generally 
accepted divisions and subdivisions of the human family, are well- 
nigh infinite ; we are compelled therefore to group them. Those of 
the most striking character we place first ; then those which are less 
and less determined ; and, lastly, those which we make a guess at, 
or which are to be discovered by the help of geography, history, and 
linguistics. 

Classification of Races. 

The first attempt at classification was made in the year 1772, 
by F. Bernier, a Trench traveller, who made out that there were 
* Article " Anthropologie," in " Diet. Encycl. des Sciences Medicales," vol. v. 



Chap, i,] CLASSIFICATION OF EACES. 199 

four races : the white in Europe, the yellow in Asia, the black in 
Africa, and Laplanders in the north. 

The second was that of Linnaeus. His genus Man includes three 
species : liomo sajnens, liomo ferus, and homo monstruosus. His 
savage man is dumb, covered with hair, and walks on all-fours. 
Among his monstrous men he includes the microcephales and the 
plagiocephales. His liomo sajnens includes four varieties : the 
European, with flaxen hair, blue eyes, and light skin ; the Asiatic, 
with blackish hair, brown eyes, and yellowish skin ; the African, 
with black woolly hair, black skin, flat nose, and thick lips ; and 
the American, with tawny skin, long black hair, and beardless chin. 

Buffon did not classify — he described. He recognised more 
particularly a northern race, a Malay race, and made a distinc- 
i}ion between Hottentots and other African negroes. The first 
classification which possessed a certain amount of prestige was 
that of Blumenbach. The Gottingen professor described five 
human varieties : the Caucasian, the Mongolian, the Ethiopian, 
the American, and the Malay. He was the originator of the title 
of Caucasian, which is noAV in use, and which he employed 
because the Caucasus is near Mount Ararat, upon which the ark 
rested after the flood. But a period soon arrived when a reaction 
took place among a certain number of naturalists. Three pairs 
alone having survived the universal deluge, as a matter of course 
all the races of mankind now living upon the earth descended from 
them. 

Cuvier admits three races — the white, or Caucasian, the Mongo- 
lian, and the negro. Desormais divides the first into tliree — the 
Indo-Pelasgian, the Armenian (Semitic), and the Scytho-Tartarian ; 
and includes in the second the Kalmucks, the Mantchiis, the 
Chinese, the Japanese, the Coreans, and the inhabitants of Micro- 
nesia (the Marianne and Caroline Isles). He does not speak of 
the divisions of the negro race ; but, not knowing where to find a 
place in his classification for the Malays, Papuans, Lapps, Esqui- 
maux, and Americans, he rejects them altogether from his category. 
"The red colour of the Indians of America," however, he does 
"not consider suflicient ground for placing them in a distinct race." 



200 CLASSIFICATION OF EACES. [Chap. i. 

The authority of Bhimenbacli, however, counterbalanced that of 
Cu^ier, and classic authors, with some dissentients, divided them 
between the five races of the one and the three races of the other. 
Lacepede, Prichard, Jacquinot, and Flourens were in favour of 
three, the last-named recognising about thirty-three different types. 

The first opposition came from Virey, in 1801, who gave out 
that the human family was composed of two species, the white and 
the black, each being divided into six races, and these in their 
turn into families. 

Bory de Saint- Vincent and A. Desmoulins were of the same 
opinion. The former, taking up the propositions of La Peyrere, 
declared that Adam was " the father of the Jews only, and that the 
differences between the human races are sufficiently great to merit 
the designation of species." He admitted fifteen, many of which 
in their turn included many races, namely, the Japhetic or 
European, the Arabian, the Hindoo, the Scythian (Turks), the 
Sinican (Chinese), the Hyperborean, the J^eptunian (Malays, 
Polynesians, and Papous), the Australian, the Columbian and 
American, the Ethiopian, the Kaffir, the Melanesian, and the 
Hottentot. Among the secondary races a few deserve to be 
mentioned : the Arabian species, comprising the Adamic Jews and 
Arabians, and the Atlantic race (Berbers). 

A. Desmoulins at the same time as, or rather before, Bory de 
Saint- Vincent, raised the number of human species to sixteen. 
He mentions two which had escaped Bory, namely, the Kurilian 
and the Papuan. The Caucasian species is taken in a different 
acceptation to that of Blumenbach and Cuvier; it merely desig- 
nates a particular group of the Caucasus, including the Mingrelians, 
the Georgians, and the Armenians. His division of the Mongo- 
lian species into the Indo-Sinican, the Mongol, and the Hyper- 
borean race is equally worthy of attention. It is to be regretted 
that A. Desmoulins should have brought into his Scythian or 
European species the Finnish race. But in his arrangement are 
found unforeseen affinities which science has not confirmed, but 
which perhaps will deserve to be one day taken again into con- 
sideration. It would be impossible to enumerate all the methods 



Chap, i.] CLASSIFICATION OF SAINT-HILAIEE AND HUXLEY. 201 

of classification which have been proposed, from the four races of 
Leibnitz, the four varieties of Kant, the five groups (divided 
into twenty-six families) of Morton, or the nine centres of Agassiz, 
to the more recent classifications of M. Er. Miiller and M. Hoeckel. 
Three only will engage our attention before we close this subject : 
the method of Isidore G-eoffroy Saint-Hilaire, which was the first 
to make classification depend exclusively on the methodical arrange- 
ment of a certain number of physical characteristics ; that of Mr. 
Huxley, which has a certain amount of originality ; and that of 
M. de Quatrefages, which examines into the whole of nature in 
accordance with the principles of the natural method. 

The classifications of Isidore Geofiroy Saint-Hilaire are two in 
number. In the first he distributes his eleven principal races 
according to the character of the hair, the flatness or jprojecting 
form of the nose, the colour of the skin, the shape of the eyes, and 
the size of the lower extremities. In the second he admits the 
following human types : the first, or Caucasian, with the face oval 
and the jaws vertical (orthognathous) ; the second, or Mongolian, 
with the face broad in consequence of the prominence of the cheek- 
bones (eurygnathous) ; the third, or Ethiopian, with projecting 
jaws (prognathous) ; and the fourth, or Hottentot type, with wide 
cheek-bones and projecting jaws (eurygnathous and prognathous). 
This division has not been settled finally, but the bases of it are 
excellent. 

The classification of Mr. Huxley includes two primary divisions : 
The ulotrichi, with woolly hair, and the leiostrichi, with smooth 
hair. (1) Ulotrichi. Colour varying from yellow-brown to the 
jettest black ; the hair and eyes dark, and with only a few excep- 
tions they are dolichocephales (elongated head). Example : the 
negroes of Africa and the Papons. (2) Leiostrichi. These are 
divisible into four groups : the australoid group, with dark skin, 
hair, and eyes; the hair long and straight, prognathous skull, 
with well-developed superciliary ridges. Example : the blacks 
found in Australia and in the Deccan, and perhaps the ancient 
Egyptians. The mongoloid group : yellowish-brown or reddish- 
brown skin, dark eyes, long, black, and straight hair, mesati- 



202 CLASSIFICATION OF DE QUATREFAGES. [Chap. r. 

cephalic skull. Example : tke Mongols, Chinese, Polynesians, 
Esquimaux, and Americans. The xanthochroic group : pale skin, 
blue eyes, and abundant fair hair, skull mesaticephalic. Example : 
the Slavonians, Teutons, Scandinavians, and the fair Celtic-speak- 
ing people. The melanochroid group : pale-complexioned, dark 
eyes, hair long and black. Example : Iberians and black Celts 
and the Berbers. 

There are many objections to this classification. The form of 
the head, for example, is not always exact. If the Chinese and 
the Polynesians of the third group are mesaticephalic, the 
Esquimaux are the most dolichocephalic to be found on the 
globe, and the Mongols among the most brachycephalic. 

The best classification, apart from the monogenistic principle 
upon "vvhich it is based, is that of M. de Quatrefages. The 
eminent professor at the Museum of Paris regards the whole of the 
human races, "pure or regarded as such,"* as a single stem with 
three trunks — the white, the yellow, and the black — which are 
divided into branches, and these again into boughs, upon which 
the families divided into groups are grafted. The branches of 
the v^hite trunk are the Aryan, the Semitic, and the AUophyle 
(Esthonians, Caucasians, Ainos) ; those of the yellow trunk are 
the Mongolian or meridional, and the Ougrian or boreal ; and those 
of the black trunk, the JSTegrito, the Melanesian, the African, and 
the Saab (Hottentots). As examples of the boughs we may 
mention the three of the Aryan branch — the Celt, the German, and 
the Slav; the two of the Semitic branch — the Semitic and the 
Libyan; the two of the Mongolian branch — the Sinican (Chinese, 
&c.); and the Turanian (Turks). As examples of families: the 

"''■ The monogenistic theor j does not recognise the existence of really pure 
races. All being derived from a single individual, and being gradually 
produced by the influence of external conditions, the epithet is not abso- 
lutely applicable to them at any period of their existence. In the ancient 
polygenistic doctrine a definite number of races have existed from the first, 
with characteristics such as we now find them to possess, and consequently 
have remained pure. In the transformation theory also races are never 
stationary, or at least are not so as far as our finite vision can make out j 
their purity therefore is always relative, as in the monogenistic theory. 



€hap. I.] CLASSIFICATION OF DE QUATEEFAGES. 203 

Chaldean, the Arabic, and the Amhara of the Semitic bough ; the 
first furnishing the Hebrew group, the second the Hymyarite and 
Arabian groups, and the third the Abyssinian group. M. de 
Quatrefages admits besides, " the great races belonging more or 
less " to one of the three trunks. So among those of the yellow 
trunk, races " a elements juxtaposes " (the Japanese), and the races 
"a elements fondus" (the Malayo-Polynesians).'* In fact, the 
majority of classifications go on progressing. We see them com- 
mencing timidly, then multiplying their divisions, and then 
descending to details. Questions as to geographical boundaries 
are the first to* attract attention, then physical characteristics, 
language, and subsequently records of every kind, both ethnic, 
historical, and archaeological. The defect of many is their exclusive 
character, as the classification of M. Fr. MiiUer, which is essentially 
linguistic. M. de Quatrefages, on the contrary, draws from all 
sources, and well weighs every question. Perhaps, however, he 
does not lay sufficient stress on physical characteristics, which 
ought in his eyes as a naturalist to take precedence of every other. 
Ethnology, which classes peoples, naturally leaves them out of ' 
consideration ; anthropology, which has to do with the distribution 
of races — like botany, which makes divisions and subdivisions of 
the vegetable kingdom — takes them as its principal basis, t 

Before resuming this question, let us consider first the physical 
characteristics of races, and then the physiological, which flow 
from them. We shall also speak of ethnic, archaeological, and 
linguistic characteristics, but only to a limited extent, inasmuch as 

* ■ We nmst not allow the name of M. de Quatrefages to pass without 
expressing our sense of the liberality with which he has for many years 
placed at our disposal the magnificent anthropological collections of the 
Museum. Without endorsing all his views, we must admire the clear and 
forcible mode in which he expresses them in his lectures and published 
works. His examination of the doctrine of Darwin has particularly struck 
us, and demands very serious and thoughtful attention. 

t See " Systema Natursa," by Ch. Linnseus, Leyden,' 1735 ; " Dissertatio 
Inauguralis de Generis Humani Varietate Nativa," by J. F. Blumenbach, 
Gcetticgen, 1775, in 4to ; " Le Eegne Animal," by Baron Cuvier, 5 vols., 
vol. i., Paris, 1829; " Species des Mammiferes Bimanes et Quadrumanes," by 
E. P. Lesson, Paris, 1840, in 8vo. 



204 PHYSICAL CHAEACTERISTICS. [Chap. i. 

there are volumes piiblislied in the " Bibliotheque des Sciences 
Contemporaines," specially devoted to these subjects. "^ 



57^6 Physical Characteristics. 

The physical characteristics which separate races are of two 
orders : anatomical, which are to be studied in the laboratory ; and 
external, to be observed on the living subject. 

The two are far from possessing the same value in the present 
phase of anthropological science. In the laboratory, everything is 
done carefully and methodically, as far as can be done, with the 
compass and the balance. Observations are conducted with calm- 
ness, and every available source of information is brought into 
requisition. In a foreign land, that is to say on the living subject, 
it is quite otherwise. The traveller has generally other objects 
which occupy his attention. He sets out with certain erroneous 
opinions, allows himself to be influenced by the events of the day 
and his own preconceived notions ; or he ignores what he ought to 
observe, and passes by facts which possibly might clear up questions 
long in dispute. Thus the observations which reach us from afar, 
sometimes from a source looked upon as a most favourable one, 
have never the same degree of exactness about them which facts 

* " Histoire Naturelle de rHomme," by J. J. Yirey, 2 vols., Paris, 1801 ; 
" Dictionnaire Classique d'Hisfcoire Naturelle," arts. " Bimanes," " Homme," 
" Orang," by Bory de Saint-Yincent, vol. viii., 1825, and vol. xii., 1827 ; 
" Histoire Naturelle des Eaces Humaines," by A. Desmoulins, 8vo, Paris, 
1826; "Manuel de Physiologie," by J. MuUer, translated into Frencb, 
2 vols., Paris, 1845 ; " Oours de Pbysiologie," by P. Berard, vol. i., Paris, 
1848, &c, &c. ; " The Eaces of Men and tbeir Distribution," by Charles 
Pickering, 1 vol., 4to, Boston, 1848 and 1854 ; " Types of Mankind," by 
Nott and Gliddon, p. 618, Philadelphia, 1 vol., 1854; table of the first 
classification of Isidore Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire. in " Etudes sur I'Histoire 
Naturelle," by Camille Delvaille, Paris; "Sur la Classification Anthro- 
pologique," by Isidore Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, in " Memoires de la Societe 
d'Anthropologie," vol. i., 1860 ; " Comparative Anatomy of Yertebrated 
Animals," by T. H. Huxley, translated into French, Paris, 1875; "Diet. 
Encycl. des Sciences Med.," article " Eaces Humaines," by De Quatrefages, 
1873 ; " Allgemeine Ethnographic," by F. Miiller, Yienna, 1873, &c. 



€hap. I.] PHYSICAL CHARACTEEISTICS. 205 

of a much, more unpretending character possess wlien collated in 
the silence of the study. 

The information published by* our learned societies is' intended 
to supply this want of inexpertness which we find in ordinary 
travellers, and to make them understand the desiderata of science, 
and how to conduct their observations. But the observation of 
minor characteristics presents the greatest difficulty. A scholar 
like Dr. Beddoe will draw up very instructive tables as to the 
colour of the hair ; an ordinary observer will appropriate the tables 
drawn up by the Societe d' Anthropologic ; another, like Quetelet, 
and every physician familiar with anatomy, will carefully notice 
the proportions of the body, but we cannot expect this from the 
generality of travellers. They fancy they have done great things 
if they take note of a certain date when they met with a native 
having the elongated face, the curly hair, the fiat nose, or the dark 
complexion. But such observations are generally insufficient. 
The expeditions such as those of the Novavra in Oceania, or of 
Petermann in the I^orth, in which certain men were selected to 
make special observations, are rare. In France we may mention 
the Perons, the Pickerings, the D'Orbignys, the Humboldts, the 
Pritschs ; but how few these are ! It is doubtful if the travels of 
Livingstone have helped forward in any way the science of anthro- 
pology. In natural history what we want most particularly is to 
have specimens of plants and animals, which those specially 
learned in each department may arrange at their leisure. In 
ethnology we want to note the manners and customs, and to 
ascertain the distribution of each tribe- as well as its history. Such 
men as Pallas, Barrow, and Eyre are not wanting; but all the 
work of anthropology has to be done at a distance, with such 
assistance as is to be obtained from bones, hair, and photographic 
drawings. Hence the relatively low ebb at which we find the 
physical study of the living subject, as compared with the flourish- 
ing results obtained in the laboratory. But among these there are 
those which in the very nature of things have obtained special 
pre-eminence. The thing of primary importance in a laboratory is 
to have specimens, and the commonest among them are those which 



206 CEANIOLOGY. [Chap. i. 

give the least troiiHe and can best be preserved, as tlie bones, 
and especially skulls. Eor some time, however, the laboratory of 
M. Broca has been enriched with . brains, preserved in alcohol, 
which have been sent from all parts of the world. 

Bones, on the other hand, have the inestimable advantage of 
presenting to ns all that remains of ancient peoples of which there 
are no longer any living representatives ; some extending back to- 
one and two thousand years, others to ten and twenty thousand,,, 
when the various types had become less changed. 

When making a comparison of races, therefore, it should not be 
matter. of surprise that such importance is attached to the study of 
the bones, and particularly of the skull — ^that noblest part of the 
human animal. 

Graniology. 

Craniology thus forms the first chapter of the anthropology of 
the human races. 

Some of the differences which skulls exhibit are slight, others- 
are considerable ; some are more readily appreciable by their general 
appearance, others by measurement. The particular type of each 
skull, or the general type of the group to which it belongs, is to be 
ascertained by carefully studying their ensemble. Some of these 
differences moreover are sufficiently striking of themselves to 
characterise the race, and to enable us to recognise at once the. 
source from whence the specimen was derived. For example, the 
excessive length and height of the Esquimaux skull,' or the keel- 
shaped vertex associated with great depth of the root of the nose in. 
the Tasmanian skull. There are exceptions, however ; craniology,. 
in its present phase, is a science of analysis and of patience, and 
not yet a science of synthesis. There are two general methods,, 
each of which claims pre-eminence, which however are equally 
useful and mutually perfect. In one, cranioscopy, the eye, or 
simple means which one has always at hand, are sufficient. In the 
other, craniometry, we have recourse to proceedings requiring, 
accuracy. We shall term the characteristics ascertained by the- 
former descriptive, and those by the latter craniometrical. 



Chap, i.] DESCEIPTIYE CHAEACTEEISTICS. 207 



Descriptive Characteristics. 

A skull being submitted to examination, the first tbing is tO' 
determine the age and tbe sex, and to notice wbetber it presents 
any deformity, wbetber postbumous, ]3laty basic, artificial, or 
patbological. "We sbould especially direct our attention, witb a view 
to after examination, to tbe small skulls wbicb M. Broca bas called 
demi-microcepbales, and to tbose manifestly affected witb old 
bydrocepbalus. We sbould afterwards notice if tbe skull presents 
any anatomical anomalies, sucb as a supplementary suture dividing 
one of tbe parietal or malar bones ; tbe persistence of tbe inter- 
maxillary, tbe metopic, or tbe interparietal sutures j tbe welding 
together .of the bones of tbe nose; tbe exceptionally large ossa 
Wormiana — an epactal, for example ; tbe enlargement of tbe two 
vascular foramina, occasionally absent, called parietal foramina, and 
situated about two centimetres outside and on each side of the 
sagittal suture, at the junction of its anterior four-fifths witb its 
posterior one-fifth; an enlargement of about two centimetres in 
diameter, to which M. Eroca bas drawn attention;* a third con- 
dyle ; a jugular apophysis, &c. "VYbat we have mentioned in tbe 
first part respecting all these peculiarities wiU suflice. One word, 
however, witb respect to tbe epactal bone. 

It is simple or multiple, and varies in size from that of a mere 
triangular Wormian bone enclosed within the point of the V which 
is formed by the lambda below, to one abnost having tbe appearance 
of an interparietal bone. It is distinguished from this latter in that 
tbe true interparietal suture leads directly from one asterion to the 
other, passing below the inion, while the suture of tbe epactal is 
always above, and ends more or less high up on tbe branches of 
the lambdoidal suture. The epactal has been called os Incte by 
Eivero and Tschudy, who improperly look upon it as an almost 
constant characteristic of tbe three races of Peru. In 47 Anconian 
skidls in M. Broca's laboratory (tbe others have stiU tbe skin and 

* " Sur la Perforation Congenitale et Symetrique cles deux Parietaux," by 
P. Broca, in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 1875. 



208 DESCRIPTIYE CHARACTERISTICS. [Chap. i. 

hair on tlieni) it was present, of greater or less size, eleven times, 
■vvliicli is oftener than usual. 

Among the most important characteristics to establish are : 

(1) The state of the cranial sutures, the serratures of which are 
very complex in the superior races, usually simple in the inferior. 

(2) The projection of the inion or external occipital protuberance, 
the degree of development of which M. Broca expresses by five 
figures, the 5 corresponding to the maximum development, and 
the to its complete obliteration. 

(3) The disposition of the pterion like an H or a K. The former 
is the more usual, in which the greater wings of the sphenoid are 
directly articulated with the parietal to a variable extent, which 
M. Broca measures with the compasses ; the latter is exceptional, 
where the temporal touches the frontal to a variable extent, pushing 
back the sphenoid and parietal above and below. 

(4) The part of the face where the plane of the artificially 
lengthened occipital foramen comes to. In the white races this 
spot is situated at the superior half of the skeleton of the nose ; in 
blacks, it comes down close to the nasal spine or below it. M. Broca 
indicates the different points thus met with by the vowels A, E, I, 
0, U. A indicates the alveolar point ; E, the nasal spine ; I, the 
spot corresponding to the position of the inferior turbinated bone ; 
0, where the inferior border of the orbit ends on the median line ; 
U, the median point situated at the top of the os unguis.^' In 
some cases the plane reaches the root of the nose at a point 
which he then indicates by K A simple rule or a knitting-needle 
placed on the plane of the occipital foramen, gives in a moment this 
element of appreciation of the skuU, which is merely the inclination 
•of the plane of the occipital foramen, the angle of which is taken 
more accurately with the occipital goniometer. The letter ]^ cor- 
responds to an angle of Daubenton from - 11 to - 13 degrees; U, 
from - 5 to - 7 ; 0, to j I, from + 2 to + 5 ; E, from + 7 to 
+ 11; and A, from + 13 to + 17. Eor further details, see 
p. 54, and Chapter III., Part II. 

We shall see that the direction or inclination of the plane of the 
* Memoir already quoted on the occipital angles. 



Chap, i.] DESCEIPTIVE CHAEACTERISTICS. 209 

occipital foramen, estimated rapidly by this proceeding or strictly 
with the goniometer, is one of the most important characteristics by 
which we distinguish the negro from the European. M. Broca has 
invented for use in the laboratory, and as a good substitute for the 
rule to which we have referred, a curved stem, the curve of which 
passes underneath the superior maxillary bone, and v^rhich is termed 
crochet occipital. (Fig. 23.) 

The following peculiarities, which are very difficult to define, and 
which have hitherto defied all attempts at measurement, assist us in 
characterising the physiognomy of the skull, and are occasionally 
sufficient to enable us to recognise it. 

(1) The flatness of the lateral parieties of the skull, as well as their 




Fig. 23.— Occipital crochet of M. Broca, for tlie pui-pose of determining the part of the 
face where the prolonged plane of the occipital foramen meets. 

vertical character, so remarkable in certain negroes of Africa, and 
especially of Oceania ; while at other times, as among the Lapps and 
the Auvergnians, these parietes are very much bulged. 

(2) The curve of the temporal line, its height, and its prolonga- 
tion behind as far as the mastoid region, showing the extent of the 
temporal fossa and the importance of the temporal muscle, which is 
inserted upon the whole of its surface. This line usually extends 
from the median line at the base of the forehead, but sometimes, in 
altogether inferior types, it approaches to about two centimetres of the 
sagittal suture. This very simian character has been observed in 
some ancient skulls from Florida, in some from 'E&\y Caledonia, in 
an Usbeck skull in M. Broca's laboratory, &c. 

(3) The projection of the glabella and the superciliary arches. 
!N"ot visible in children, the glabella makes its appearance at about 

p 



210 DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERISTICS. [Chap. i. 

15 years of age and upwards, and, as we have said, is scarcely 
perceptible in women ; generally faint in the negroes of Africa, the 
Malays, and in all the yellow races, even in men, it is very much 
developed in some prehistoric races, in Europeans, particularly in 
Auvergnians, but especially in Australians, Tasmanians, and 'New 
Caledonians. The projection of the sides of the superciliary arches 
follows the same law, and is less wanting in women. 

(4) The form of the forehead, divided into two planes united at 
a more or less obtuse angle at the level of the frontal eminences. 
These eminences are high or low, projecting, obliterated, or excep- 
tionally united into one at the median line. When the angle is 
very open, as in the microcephales, in the prehistoric race of the 
J^eanderthal, and in the negroes of Oceania generally, the forehead 
is termed receding (fuyant). When it is much less — as in women, 
in Malays and Chinese, the negroes of Africa, and particularly in 
the beautiful series of -Nubian skulls which M. Broca has disin- 
terred from the banks of the Nile — the forehead is termed straight. 
The increased projection and height of the eminences, and a too 
straight forehead, should make us suspect that there had been 
hydrocephalus during infancy. 

(5) The curve of the vault. In reputedly well-formed skulls, as 
the skull of the Arab, it gradually rises from the frontal eminences, 
reaches its culminating point behind' the bregma, and begins to 
descend at two or three centimetres farther, as far as the line which 
unites the two parietal eminences, where the descent becomes more 
rapid. A too great or a too slight curve in one particular part of 
its extent, the falling back of the culminating point, or the flatten- 
ing of the quadrilateral space included between the frontal and 
parietal eminences, are so many less satisfactory characteristics. 

The median line is not usually in relief. Sometimes it is even 
slightly hollowed at the commencement of its descent, between the 
parietal eminences. But at others it is bulged out, and gives 
origin to an antero-posterior crest_, which extends from the bregma, 
from the frontal eminences, or lower down, as far as the obelion, 
and is occasionally cleft for the lodgment of the depressed sagittal 
suture. At the sides of the median line are then seen two out- 



Chap, l] DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERISTICS. 211 

wardly-inclined planes, either straight, convex, or concave, which 
end at the curved temporal line and the parietal eminences, at one 
part obliterated, at another enlarged, turning round, or by a rapid 
fall, at the sides of the skull. Hence the three configurations of 
the vault are called en toit, or roof-shaped; en ogive, or like a 
sugar-loaf ; and en carene, or keel-shaped. The first is very common 
in Oceania, the second has been improperly said to be peculiar 
to the skulls of Mongols, the third is very characteristic of the 
Polynesian and especially of the Tasmanian skulls. 

(6) The posterior curve of the skull from the line crossing 
between the parietal eminences as far as the inion. It consists 
of two portions separated by the lambda. The former commences 
more or less in front, and is more or less inclined downwards and 
rounded off. The latter is vertical and bulged out, and has 
received the name of occipital protuberance, and by the English of 
]}r6bola. Continuous with the preceding in skulls of a superior type, 
this is frequently as if raised and separated, and forms a globular 
projection, which when moderate in size appears to be a character- 
istic of race, as in the tribes of Cro-Magnon and of I'Homme Mort, 
in the Esquimaux and Patagonians, &c.; and when considerable 
ought to be regarded as a sign of unusual cerebral pressure from 
within, or of hydrocephalus in infancy. Many human types 
exhibit, to a greater or less extent, a more or less marked flattening 
of the posterior curve. Most frequently, as in the ancient 
Tehuelches, it does not pass- beyond the lambda; at other times 
it goes beyond, as in many Auvergnians. At other times again it 
impinges upon the supra-iniac region, and in extreme cases surrounds 
it entirely, as in the Malays and Americans. Morton, indeed, made 
this falling of the skull backwards one of the characteristics of the 
entire American race. 

(7) The curve of the sub-iniac region or receptaculum cerebelli is 
very variable. Its bulging out frequently passes beyond the plane 
of the occipital foramen, and then prevents the condyles from 
touching the table when the skull is laid on its base. 

(8) Various other characteristics, such as the singular depression, 
mentioned by M. Broca, in the middle of the parieto-occipital 

p 2 



212 DESCEIPTIVS CHAEACTEEISTICS. [Chap. i. 

suture in the skulls of Orrouy, at the Polished Stone epoch; the 
size of the mastoid processes, which, allowance being made for 
differences of sex, are large in certain races and small in others ; a 
peculiar supra-mastoidean projection situated at the junction of the 
posterior prolongation of the temporal line and at the posterior root 
of the zygomatic process, and particularly developed in Esthonian 
skulls. 

In the face, characteristics to be discovered by simple inspection 
are not wanting. In the first line is to be noticed whatever has 
reference to the malar bones, the methods for whose measurement 
are by no means satisfactory ; the absence of marks in places where 
we have most need of them is very much to be regretted. These 
bones are small and lank in European races, massive and project- 
ing outwards in the Mongol races. In the Esquimaux, their 
external, anterior, and inferior angle is so thrown outwards and 
forwards that by this feature alone we are able to recognise the 
skulls of that race. Then come the prominence of the extremity 
of the bones proper of the nose and their projection at a very acute 
angle, two characteristics belonging to human races ; their flattening, 
or the contrary, in the negro races of Africa and especially the 
yellow races; the depth of the hollow at the root of the nose, 
slight in Arabians, less still in the negroes of Africa and in all the 
yellow species ; Avell marked in Europeans generally, but especially 
so in Australians, jSTew Caledonians, and Tasmanians. We have 
already mentioned in the Tasmanian race a see-saw motion of the 
superior maxilla, by virtue of which its upper part plunges 
beneath the cranium, while its lower projects forwards. We have 
also described the differences, five in number, which the inferior 
border of the nares presents on the skeleton. Thus in Europeans 
it has the form of a heart, such as we see on playing-cards, the 
nasal spine of which represents the median point and presents only 
a sharp lip. In the negroes of Africa the border is blunt, spread 
out, and becomes horizontal by the progressive obliteration of the 
nasal spine. In the Chinese and some other yellow races it is 
replaced by two digital depressions, which in Melanesians are 
transformed into tAVO channels. It has been observed in rare 



Chap. I.] DESCRIPTIVE CHAEACTERISTICS. 213 

instancQS, especially in 'New Caledonians, that tlie whole line of 
demarcation between the nasal fossae and the anterior surface of 
the alveolar arch has disappeared. In this latter respect certain 
negroes resemble the anthropoid apes. In the general configuration 
there are other characteristics of a similar kind. M. Pruner-Bey 
has laid much stress on the various harmonious relations or other- 
wise of the cranium to the face. A cranium elongated from before 
backwards, and at the same time elevated, is already in harmony 
by itself ; but if the face, on the other hand, is elongated from 
above downwards, and. narrows, the harmony is complete. Such 
are the Esquimaux and Kymri skulls. The Lapp and Auvergnian 
skulls, on the contrary, are short from before backwards and from 
above doAvnwards, and wide both in the cranium and face. Among 
skulls of an opposite character we find the celebrated Cro-Magnon 
skull of the Stone period, which is elongated from before back- 
wards, while the face is contracted from above downwards. The 
same with the Tasmanian skull. There are other characteristics 
which run parallel with these ; for example, the arch of the 
palate is somewhat elongated in long skulls, and widened in wide 
skulls ; the occipital foramen in the same way. 

All craniologists, or, rather, cranio scopists, have spoken of grace- 
fully-formed skulls, with smooth contours and regular outlines, 
and of those with " heurtes " features, of sombre, stern aspect, and of 
brutish appearance. Between the two are to be seen soft, undefined 
forms, destitute of character. Those of Europeans, New Caledonians, 
and Chinese are of these descriptions. But we ought not to set too high 
a value upon such appearances. These forms, whether pleasing or 
brute-like, are to be met with in all races, in the European as well as 
in the negro. In what respect, for example, is the prominent and 
narrovf-shaped nose of the European handsomer than the small but 
broader nose of the Chinese 1 Let different persons compare the 
skull of the man and the woman, those of Cro-Magnon and of the 
Cavern de THomme Mort, opinions will be divided respecting them ; 
it is simply a matter of custom, of education, or of prejudice. 

The best example of erroneous views resulting from the abuse of 
cranioscopy is to be seen in a memoir of last year. 



214 BLUMENBACH'S NOEMA VERTICALIS. [Chap. i. 

M. Mantegazza and two friends placed two hundred skulls in a 
series, according to the ideas which they had formed of the beautiful. 
They took as their model the Jupiter Olympus, in which the pro- 
portions are conventional, and which has a facial angle such as is 
only met with among hydrocephali. They brought together, con- 
fusedly, the skulls of both sexes and of all ages, and found that 
the measurements as given with the craniometer did not accord 
with their aesthetic notions. That M. Mantegazza was discom^aged 
by the unsatisfactory result obtained by certain measurements, 
notably Camper's facial angle, we can easily believe, but this is no 
reason why the scientific method should be abandoned. Before we 
can obtain one satisfactory measurement we must be prepared to 
sacrifice several of them. The illustrious anthropologist regrets 
that craniometry does not exhibit the relative superiority of races 
in the way in which Jie conceived it. But does craniometry reject 
this superiority 1 No, it is content that each one should stand on 
its own merits. Let us relegate sentiment to artists, it is an essential 
part of their nature, and let us take care that our observations are 
made Avith rigid strictness, Avitliout which there would be an end 
to science ; we shall move less quickly, but surely. 

The method of studying the aspect of skulls from different points 
of view originated almost simultaneously with craniometry, but was 
the one generally in use until lately. It is convenient, inasmuch as 
one forms a judgment at once, in the same way as one would form 
one of a picture — certain lines, certain colour, by such a master. 
Blumenbach was the originator of this method, which was termed 
the vertical view (norma verticalis). He placed a series of skulls 
with the malar bones in the same horizontal line as they would 
have taken had the lower jaws been attached, and then viewed them 
in succession, fixing the eye above the vertex of each. In this way 
he estimated the breadth or narrowness of the contour of the vault,, 
its length, its general form, and the projection of the frontal bone. 
He noticed whether the zygomatic arches and the jaws were visible, 
and to what degree. In white races these parts are generally out 
of view, in the black they more or less project. He also gives the 
skulls of a Georgian, a Tungusian, and a negro of Guinea as specimens 



Chap, i.] OWEN'S METHOD. 215 

of the three varieties of form. The norma verticalis has continued 
to be the method usually em];Jioyed when we wish to make a rapid 
estimate of the general form of the skull, as well as the cephalic 
index, without the assistance of an instrument. But instead of the 
skull being placed on its base, after Blumenbach's fashion, it should 
be held at a distance, so that the eye can take into view the 
extremities of its antero-posterior and its maximum transverse 
diameters. The view • ought to be made perpendicularly to the 
horizontal plane passing through the glabella and a point situated 




Fig. 2i, — Norma verticalis of Blumenbach, taken with the stereograph, 
skull of Auvergnian. Cephalic index, 85 "46. 



Brachycephalie 



at about two centimetres above the inion. Figs. 24 and 25 show 
the two principal forms of the skull which we may distinguish in 
this way. 

Contemporaneously with Blumenbach, Camper adopted the 
method of studying the skull in profile ; and later on, Owen, being 
desirous of comparing the anthropoid apes Avith Man, supplemented 
it with the view from below. This last thus took into account the 
position of the occipital foramen relatively to the anterior and 
posterior extremities of the skull, the segment described by the 
zygomatic arches, the form of the arch of the palate, &c. 



216 PRICHAED'S METHOD. [Chap. i. 

Pricharcl combined these three methods, and added that of the 
face, hut made no reference to the view from behind. He recog- 
nised three principal forms of the skull : the oval, the pyramidal, 
and the prognathous, a division since adopted by M. Pruner-Bey. 

The first, or oval, corresponds to our European type. The fore- 
head is Avell developed, the maxillary bones and the zygomatic 
arches being so formed as to give the face an oval shape. The 
forehead and malar bones are nearly on a plane with these, the 
alveolar borders and the incisor teeth are vertical. 




Fig. 2b.— Norma verticalis of Blumcnbacli, taken with the stereograph. Dolichocephalic 
skull of Spanish Basque (province of Guipuseoa). Cephalic index, 74'19. 

The second, or pyramidal, he says, is to be noticed in the 
IMongols, and more so in the Esquimaux. Its most striking character 
is the outv/ard projection of the zygomatic arches. " The cheek- 
bones project from under the middle of the orbit, and turn back- 
v^^ards in a large arch or segment of a circle, the lateral projection 
of the zygomas being so considerable, that if a line drawn from one 
to the other be taken as a base, this will form with the top of the 
forehead a nearly triangular figure. The upper part of the face is 
remarkably plane and flat, the nose being fiat, and the nasal bones, 



Chap, l] PEICHAED'S METHOD. 217 

as well as the spaces between the eyebrows, nearly on the same 
plane with the cheek-bones. Lastly, at the point of the pyramid is 
the fronto-sagittal crest," &c. 

The third, or prognathous, corresponds to the negro type. The 
skull is compressed laterally, the temporal muscles are inserted very 
high up, producing the effects of lateral elongation and flattening. 
The cheek-bones project rather forwards than outwards (prog- 
nathism).* This is one of the most valuable portions of Prichard's 
work. 

However striking certain characteristics furnished by the eye and 
the forms thus recognised may be a priori, both are insufficient to 
lay the foundation of an exact science, and craniology thus limited 
would be of little avail. The traits of character so judged of are 
entirely individual in the majority of cases, and their estimate 
depends upon the mental disposition of the observer, as well as 
upon the accurate recollection of his latest visual impressions. 
These can only be committed to writing in a very imperfect way. 
According to the way in which the light falls upon the skull so do 
appearances vary, and M. Broca is daily exhibiting to his pupils 
the fallacies to which any one of the characteristics, looked upon by 
craniology as of the highest importance, may be exposed. Accord- 
ing as the skull is looked at at a height or on the ground, so the 
estimates vary ; so many millimetres of greater or less inclination 
will give the appearance of prognathism or not. In Blumenbach's 
method tlie skull rarely remains in the same position ; the variable 
size of the mastoid processes, the presence or absence of the teeth ; 
the swelling or depression behind the occipital foramen cause it to 
fall forwards or backwards, sometimes in one way, sometimes in 
another. It is not less important to have some fixed method of 
holding the skull, and Prichard himself, by relying too much upon 
his draughtsman, has unwittingly sho^vn what errors may be com- 
mitted in this way. Craniology as a science would scarcely exist 
but for the really scientific methods of examination which it 
possesses, and the characteristics which it is capable of expressing 

* " Eeseai-ches into the Physical History of Mankind," by J. C. Prichard. 
Pive vols. 183&-47. 



218 CEAmOMETRY. [Chap. i. 

with precision. Tlie process is a long and laborious one, but the 
results arrived at are certain ; they may need interpretation^ but 
they never deceive. This part of craniology is termed craniometry, 
and is merely one branch of anthropometry. 

^ Anthropometry is the study of the human body by mathematical 
modes of procedure ; osteometry is its application to the skeleton 
in general ; craniometry to the skull in particular ; pelvimetry to 
the pelvis. 

Craniometry. 

The first attempts at measurement upon the human subject, 
excluding those artists who up to the last century had not settled 
any definite distinction between races, were made by Daubenton, 
Camper, Soemmering, and White. Craniometry, however, did not 
soar aloft until the time of Morton. Since this period it has been 
pra(jtised in all parts of the civilised world. It has its adepts in 
Patagonia in the person of Dr. Moreno, and in the Caucasus in that 
of Professor Smirnow. The works, on the skull, of Thurnam, 
E. Davis, Busk, and Carter Blake in England are well known, as 
also in Italy those of Mantegazza, Calori, Mcolucci; in Eastern 
Europe, Wagner, Van der Hoeven, Yon Baer, Lucse, Ecker, 
Yirchow, Welcker ; in Erance, Gratiolet, Broca, De Quatrefages, 
Bertillon, Hamy. Collections of skulls have been made in all 
directions. Among the most celebrated we may mention the col- 
lection of Morton at Philadelphia, which in 1857 consisted of 1,045 
specimens ; of Barnard Davis at Shelton, Staffordshire, which at 
the present time amounts to about 1,700 ; and those of Paris, Avhich 
altogether number upwards of 7,000. 

Craniometrical Cliaracteristics. 

One is necessarily compelled when practising craniometry, in 
order to make oneself thoroughly acquainted with a race, to study 
a number of its representatives and to take their average, in order 
that there may be no preponderance of any special characteristic. 
You arrive in a town and see an individual of fair complexion ; do 
you jump to the conclusion at once that all the inhabitants are fair % 



CiiAP. I.] CEANIOMETRICAL CHARACTErJSTICS. 219 

No. You pass from one quarter of the town to another, make a 
certain number of observations, and from them draw your inferences. 
So with craniometry ; a single skull may by chance exhibit the type 
of the race, but it may also be an exception and lead to error. The 
characteristics of the type sought can only be correctly expressed 
in their ensemble upon different skulls. The first thing, then, 
which is requisite for craniometrical study is a sufficient number of 
specimens. The type being once recognised, one, two, or more 
skulls will be found necessary in order to furmsh further informa- 
tion, and we must wait. The archaeologist, therefore, should collect 
together the most likely specimens he can find, and not take any 
he may lay hold of and bring them to the laboratory Avith the 
question : Are these the skulls of Franks, Burgundians, Saracens, or 
Eomans ] 

Moreover, few of the series collected in one and the same place 
are examples of an unmixed type. Most frequently they are ofily 
a medley of different races more or less nearly allied to one another, 
with quite opposite characteristics, some corresponding to one of 
the ancient types, others to another ; they include cases of atavism, 
and even stray examples obtained from various sources. 

Twenty skulls of the same sex are sufficient in general to remove 
all questions of difficulty, but this number is necessary ; and here 
arises a serious question : What is the extent of individual varia- 
tions admissible in a race reputed pure, as in the Andamans for 
example 1 It is only possible to answer this question as regards each 
particular case. First, it depends on the extent of the maximum 
and minimum deviations observed throughout the whole human 
series. The less considerable these deviations and the better 
understood, the greater the value of the characteristic. There are 
characteristics which, coeteris paribus, vary enormously when 
expressed in one way and very slightly when in another. This is 
so with prognathism, Avhich is estimated sometimes by the relation 
of the horizontal projection to the height of the region, sometimes 
by the angle at the culminating point of the upper jaw. M. Broca 
has recognised variations in the cephalic index in one and the same 
race to the number of 10 per cent.; it is only when they reach 



220 METHOD OF INDICES. [Chap. i. 

15 to 18 per cent, tliat we can say witli certainty that tliey are clue 
to mixture of race. 

The figures expressing each individual measurement being 
arranged, in a progressive series, the most divergent are placed at 
the two extremities, while those which are most frequently alike 
are grouped in the middle. Sometimes, however, there are two 
maxima of concentration, separated by an interval in which the 
numbers are clearly distributed. M. Bertillon attributes this to a 
commingling of two races of opposite characters, and has deduced 
some valuable conclusions therefrom. 

The measurements taken in centimetres and millimetres are 
added, and divided by the number of subjects measured. The 
quotient is the mean ; it expresses the characteristic directly, such 
as the breadth of the forehead for example, or is only valuable 
when compared with some other measurement. A skull is broad 
in certain cases, not from the number of centimetres which it 
measures, but in proportion to its volume, that is to say, its length. 
We therefore convert its breadth into centimetres of its length. 
It is thus an index or relation, a far superior method to that of 
directly estimating the absolute measurements. The mode of 
calculating this index is b}'' no means unimportant. There are 
three ways of proceeding : (1) We calculate each index separately 
and take the mean (moyenne des mdices) ; (2) We add each of 
the series of factors, we take their means, and from these we 
calculate the index (indice des moyennes) — this mode is preferable, 
and avoids the losses arising from decimals omitted ; (3) We again 
add the factors, and with their sum obtain the index directly. This 
has the advantage of economy in working, and is that which we 
usually adopt. 

The means have reference to the straight measurements, to the 
curves, the angles, and even to the marks which M. Broca expresses 
by certain figures, as the projection of the inion from to 5. 

The first condition of a good measurement is to be determined 
by certain fixed anatomical marks, so that two observers at a 
distance from each other may not deviate from them in the 
slightest degree under any circumstances. In -this point of view 



Chap, i.] CHOICE OF METHODS OF MEASUEEMENT. 221 

the maxiiniini and minimum measurements are excellent. Those 
which jDass from some definite point of the base and lead to any- 
optional part, as the vertex, not determined by projection, are had, 
such as those which meet at the parietal or frontal eminences. We 
can never succeed twice following in placing their culminating 
point at the same spot, consequently they only furnish approxi- 
mative dimensions. It would be better to give up any preconceived 
notion than to deviate from certain defined marks, or at any rate 
as little as possible ; and observers who publish measurements with- 
out giving a precise description of their method of working, run 
the risk of having little attention paid to them. 

Every measurement should be made with a definite object, 
Craniometrical characteristics under this aspect are of two kinds : 
rational, that is to say, related to some lohysiological opinion ; or 
empirical, having no apparent design. 

If we take two skulls resembling each other but of different 
capacity, we shall find the largest to be, ccBtcris 'paribus, the one 
Vv'ith the more developed frontal bone, the more rounded vault, 
the posterior part more ample, the occipital foramen more elevated, 
the distance of this foramen from the bregma more considerable. 
Gratiolet has divided the human races into frontal, parietal, and 
occipital, according as the skull is more or less developed at the 
expense of this or that part. Hence we have one of the first series- 
of characteristics subordinate to one and the same idea^ viz. the 
variable development of the characteristic organ in the human 
family. 

Other characteristics are looked upon, whether rightly or wrongly,, 
as dominant. They have an affinity in negroes to those which 
they exhibit in apes, and establish the transition between these 
and Europeans. Thus both on the skeleton, in the muscles and in 
the viscera, there are certain arrangements having respect to a 
sideling attitude, as that of anthropoids. The mind is then led to 
consider these more or less considerable variations as proof of a 
gradual approach of the organism to perfection, and that all the 
human races sprung from one and th.e same inferior type. The 
Bosjesmans, in several respects, are at the bottom of the scale ; 



222 EMPIRICAL MODES OF MEASUREMENT. [Chap. i. 

the Melanesians, the negroes of Guinea, the Caffres, the yellow 
races, &c., would be next to them. But this, although true as to 
certain characteristics, does not hold good as regards others. Some 
have only a negative character, such as the width between the 
cheek-bones, the flatness of the face^ the elliptical or hyperbolical 
form of the alveolar arches, the projection of the superciliary 
ridges, the sinking in at the root of the nose, the keel-like form of 
the top of the head, (fee. Many characteristics which we usually, 
though wrongly, place in the series are of this kind, of which the 
skeleton furnishes numerous examples. Their frequency does not 
surprise us^ and we may add that it is in this more than in the 
variations of the brain-case that we discover the best marks of 
dilTerence between races. The nasal index of M. Broca, among 
others, is a proof in point. 

An erroneous idea has prevailed that ]\Ian being distinguished 
from animals more particularly as regards the brain, we ought 
to find in the skull the fundamental characteristics whereby we 
may separate races. It is rather the reverse. Evidently ]\Ian is 
essentially characterised by the brain and its osseous envelope. But 
in natural history, when a characteristic intervenes to separate one 
group from another, the more natural, palpable, and important it is, 
the less does it vary in the divisions and varieties. In botany, it 
is not even in the characteristic of a family, a tribe, or a genus that 
we must seek for shades of difference with a view to establish 
secondary divisions, it is in other parts of the plant. One of the 
labiatae is recognised at once by its inflorescence, as ]\Ian is by his 
cranium. In both it is apart from their essential characteristic 
feature that differences are found which lay the foundation of 
permanent varieties. 

Empirical characteristics derived from craniometry are opposed 
to the monogenestic creed, inasmuch as they witness in favour of 
the original plurality of the principal groups. 

Sometimes, when having to make choice of craniometrical measure- 
ments, we are guided by the development and growth of the 
skeleton. The brain and its envelope increase according to one law, 
the cavities of the senses and the maxillary apparatus according to 



Chap, i.] RATIONAL MODES OF MEASUREMENT. 223 

another ; whence a possible antagonism, an influence capable of 
giving origin to peculiarities in races which, by being often repeated, 
may be considered as characteristic. 

Eut throughout the entire range of craniometry we must not lose 
sight of the subordination of characteristics. Thus the develop- 
ment of the anterior portion of the brain cavity causes the occipital 
foramen to be driven backwards. The increase of the maxillary bone 
in front, whence prognathism is caused, gives rise to a similar result. 
Cceteris paribus, an elongated and at the same time contracted 
skull is proportion^bly increased in height. A round skull, on the 
contrary, appears to be decreased vertically. It is well also to 
consider the correlation of characteristics. An example on the 
living subject will explain what we mean. Blue eyes are usually 
accompanied by light hair. So in the skull, the flattening of the 
entire face, including the cheek-bones, usually causes the oblitera- 
tion of the glabella and the superciliary arches, and the crushing 
in of the root of the nose ; this forms part of the harmonious 
characteristics of which we spoke just now. In reality, it is from 
this agreement of character that the idea of type has taken its 
origin. 

Bernard de Paliss}^ maintained that the human skull is the most 
irregularly-formed figure in nature, and gave expression to a senti- 
ment in which all must agree who are commencing craniometrical 
researches. " I have a desire," he says, " to measure the head, in 
order directly to know its dimensions, and it appears to me that the 
sauterelle, the rule, and the compass would be very proper instru- 
ments to employ for that purpose, but the fact is I can never be 
sure of my measurements." '^ Bernard de Palissy used exaggerative 
language in reference to these matters. Separate, in thought, the 
cranium from the face, and consider the former as an egg with its 
larger extremity posteriorly, the diameters and circumferences of 
^vhich we want simply to measure ; and the latter as a p^a'amid, 
the base of which corresponds to the face, and the point to the 
anterior border of the occipital foramen ; and the thing becomes as 
simple as possible. Then recollect that the cranium is the pro- 
* Bernard de Palissy, " GEuvres." 18mo. Paris, 1854. 



224 METHODS OF MEASUEEMENT. [Chap. i. 

longation of the vertebral column, the axis of which is bent at the 
level of the anterior border of the occipital foramen, giving origin 
to three cranial vertebrae and that consequently there exists in the 
cranium a central point — the basion — around which all the various 
modifications of development are taking place. Lastly, remember 
that the head possesses a natural attitude, to which, at the base of 
the skull, there corresponds a horizontal plane which is determined 
in a moment, and that in consequence we can always take the 
position of any point by referring to it or to the vertical median 
plane. Such is the basis of craniometry. T^e systems which 
apply certain measurements to the auditory foramina, or to any 
other point, and the gauging of the cavities only complicate it. 

There is great danger of exaggeration in making craniometrical 
measurements. Everyone at first is anxious to carry out his 
own method of proceeding, without the help of a guide or some 
manual indicating all the most approved measurements. The 
tendency to run into minutias is especially predominant here ; and 
we recollect seeing a memoir in which we counted 193 different 
dimensions or indices, and in another as many as 200. It is 
evident that craniology is an illimitable science, and it is the duty 
of every inquirer to make it the subject of diligent investigation. 
One measurement, which appears valueless, is found to have con- 
siderable importance j while another, which we have fought hard to^ 
verify, leads to no practical result. 

It happens with craniology as it does almost constantly at the 
dawn of every new science. We have difiiculties to colitend with 
at the very onset with regard to the description of the series of 
skulls. We take into consideration, in a word, their characteristics- 
as witnessed in their pathological, physiological, or accidental 
variations. This is a bad method. We must set out with 
■ craniometry generally. Above all, it is necessary to lay down, 
certain bases, to ascertain facts, to determine seriatim the value of 
each characteristic, to know which to preserve and which to reject,, 
and so to aTrange the plan and method of proceeding that the 
labours accomplished on one side of a frontier line may be available-, 
on the other. 



Chap. I.] YAEIETIES OF MODES OF MEASUREMENT. 225 

In America, in Italy, in England^ and in Trance, the methods of 
measurement in general use differ hut sHghtly. In Germany it is 
not so, notwithstanding the efforts of the congress at Gottingen and 
more recent congresses to hring the various systems into harmonious 
action. M. Welcker, in particular, is far from heing in accord 
with the majority of his colleagues. By his works, from which we 
have largely drawn supplies, he has deserved well of anthropology; 
but his cranial net, its horizontal circumference, and its antero- 
posterior diameter are not well expressed. The frontal and parietal 
eminences cannot serve as marks for important measurements. We 
are sure that we have determined the position of the former 
thousands of times, and we declare that the results have heen most 
unsatisfactory. 

The Germans, if we may venture an opinion on the subject, do 
not go straight to the point. Under the pretext of anatomical 
philosophy, they take the detail for the essential, and frequently 
even distort ideas from their simple acceptation. The methods 
followed by M. Ecker and M. Wiesbach are probably most in 
accordance with the French mode of proceeding. 

Without too much slighting the measurements extolled by 
foreigners, we very much prefer those which our learned master 
considers the best — at least those of which he has published 
abundant records. "Wlien anyone has the advantage, such as we 
have had, of seeing M. Broca at work in his laboratory, comparing 
all the measurements upon thousands of skulls, rejecting those 
upon which he appeared to set especial value, recommencing upon 
and examining entire series which he regarded as at all doubtful, a 
thought crosses the mind, Is it certain that everywhere else so 
much scrupulous care has been bestowed 1 We may be pardoned, 
then, if we give the highest place to his instructions, whether 
public or private."^ 

* See especially " Memoires d'Anthropologie," by Paul Broca, vols. i. 
and ii., published by Ch. Reinwald & Co., Paris; "Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 
1860-75, 15 vols.; "Memoires d'Antbrop.," 3 vols.; and "Revue d'Antbrop.," 
edited by M. Paul Broca, 1872-75, 4 vols. 



MEASUEEMENT OF THE CRANIAL CAVITY. [Chap. ii. 



CHAPTER II. 

MEASUREMENT OF THE CRANIAL CAVITY STRAIGHT AND CURVED 

MEASUREMENTS CEPHALIC, VERTICAL, FRONTAL, NASAL, ORBITAL 

INDICES FACIAL TRIANGLE. 

The cranium is measured : (1) In any position, wlietlier as regards 
its ensenible, its cerebral or facial portion taken separately, its 
interior or its exterior; (2) In a position conformable witli tliat 
Avhich it affects on the living subject. Hence a series of measure- 
ments or operations may be ranged under five beads : (1) Gauging 
and cubic measurements ; (2) Straight and curved measurements ; 
(3) Projections ; (4) Angles ; (5) Special systems of measure- 
ment. 

Measurement of the Cranial Caiiacit]). 

The importance of the cerebral cavity in man, and its influence 
on the external configuration of the skull, early engaged the 
attention of anthropologists, with a view to determine its capacity. 
But the substance employed was objectionable, the methods of 
proceeding were of an irregular character, and soon fell into dis- 
repute. Eevived by Morton, the measurement of the cranium has 
become, in the hands of M. Broca, a mathematical operation upon 
which we can now depend. The operation consists of two parts : 
gauging, in which we fill the skuU with some substance ; and cubic 
measurement, by which we determine its volume. Gauging has 
been practised with water by Soemmering, Virey, Treadwell ; with 
mercury by M. Broca, in a skull which he made use of as a 
standard ; with sand by Hamilton and Mr. Barnard Davis ; with 
millet by M. Tiedemann and M. Mantegazzi ; with white mustard 
seed by Philipps; with pearl barley by M. Welcker; and with 
shot by Morton and M. Broca. Many other things have been 



Chap, ii.] MEASUREMENT OF THE CRANIAL CAVITY. 



227 



tried : water in a caoiitcliouc bladder, an arrangement with intra- 
cranial casts, with a view to ascertain the quantity of water which 
they displaced. Glass and earthenware beads have also been 
suggested, &c. Fluids are out of the question.* Of other sub- 
stances, some get with difficulty into" the cavities, or adhere to the 
parietes ; all arrange themselves unequally according to the way in 
which the observer, whose patience is frequently put to the test, 
manages matters. Some operators tap the parietes gently, others 
ram down the substances employed. The method of filling the 
cavity may also lead to error. In taking the dimensions also 
there are frequently mistakes made. Wyman having taken 
the cubic measurement of the cranial cavity eight times on the 
same skull, with different materials, found the result varied as 
follows : 



With Peas 


1193-0 


„ Shot ... 


1201-8 


„ Haricot beans 


1206-2 


„ Rice 


1220-2 


„ Linseed 


... 1247-5 


„ Coarse sand ... 


1257-5 


„ Fine sand 


1313-0 



It is a matter of importance, therefore, to be exact in every 
detail of the operation, whether of gauging or of cubic measurement. 
Then again, certain substances answer better than others — shot 
for example — which M. Broca prefers and has generally employed ; 
or millet, or mustard seed, which he uses when the skull is 
fragile. 

The circumstances which most influence the result in the case 
of shot are the way in which it is rammed in, the rapidity with 
which it is poured down the funnel, and the diameter of the funnel 
employed, as well as the height from which the shot is allowed to 



•^ We do not understand Dr. Beddoe's recommendation to travellers to 
*' measure the capacity in ounces of fine sand, or, what is better (if possible), 
of water."— "Notes and Queries on Anthropology for the Use of Travellers 
and Residents in Uncivilised Lands," London, 1874. 



228 METHOD OF PEOCBEDIKG. [Chap. ii. 

fall into the measuring vessels. If the litre is full, and placed 
down on the table with some little force, the shot should not sink 
lower than the original level. Consequently M. Broca has en- 
deavoured to determine the conditions of the operation which give 
the most constant result, and with some amount of success. The 
following is his mode of proceeding, to the minutest details. Ther 
orbit being filled with cotton wool and the vault of the cranium 
placed in a wooden bowl, the first litre of shot is poured into its 
cavity ; then, the skull being grasped with both hands, is shaken 
so as to allow the shot to pass into the anterior part of the cavity. 
It is then turned about, and at the same time a wooden spindle is 
used to ram down the shot, until the cavity can. hold no more. 
Then pressing hard with the thumb, the shot is rammed in until it 
is on a level with the occipital foramen. The contents are then 
emptied into a vessel, and from this turned quickly into a tin litre, 
the surface of which is levelled with a flat rule. The remainder is 
passed into a glass gauge, graduated in cubic centimetres, through 
a funnel, the neck of which is fixed in a wooden disc fitted to the 
gauge like a cover. If the quantity is beyond the 500 centimetres 
marked on the gauge, the surface is made level as before, and 
the surplus is measured in the same way afterwards with the 
gauge. 

The four special instruments, then, are the rammer, the litre, the 
gauge, and the funnel. The first is a conical piece of wood 10 
centimetres in length and 2 in breadth. The litre is 86 milli- 
metres in internal diameter and 175 in height. The gauge, of a 
cylindrical form, has a cubic capacity of 500 centimetres, is 38 to 40 
centimetres in height and 4 in width on the inside. The funnel 
is 10 centimetres in diameter at its base, 10 centimetres in height,, 
with a neck 1 centimetre long and 2 wide. The size of the shot 
is that known as 'No. S, each grain measuring two millimetres and 
two-tenths in diameter.^ Broken skulls, or those in which the 

* All these instruments are to be procured of Matliieu, surgical in- 
strument maker, manufacturer of apparatus to the Institut Anthropolo- 
gique. 



Chap, ii.] METHOD OF PKOCEEDING. 229 

spheno -basilar suture lias not ossified, are previously bound together 
with leather straps.^ 

By scrupulously following out these instructions, the results do 
not vary in one and the same skull more than five cubic centimetres, 
although obtained by different individuals. In the course of an 
hour a person, with the help of an assistant, may easily measure 
20 skulls. Let us see the results. 

The inferior races have a less capacity than the superior. 
Australians are the lowest in the scale in this respect, having, 
according to our measurements, a mean capacity of 1224 cubic 
centimetres. The skulls of Americans, whether normal or dis- 
torted, have also a small cranial cavity. The capacity increases 
in the yellow races, and attains its maximum in whites. The 
Auvergnians have 1523, and the 384 Parisians of M. Broca, 1437 
cubic centimetres of capacity. The difference is so great between 
the two sexes, that it is absolutely necessary to examine them 
separately. In races now living this difference varies from 143 to 
220 cubic centimetres. It is a curious circumstance that it is not 
more than 99*5 in the only skull of the immense series which we 
possess of prehistoric date (Troglodytes of La Lozere). The greatest 
cranial capacity with which we are acquainted is 1900 cubic centi- 
metres, in a Parisian, and the smallest in a native of the Andaman 
Islands, namely, 1093. But if this latter appears physiological, 
we cannot say the same of the former. The highest maximum 
limit of capacity of a cranial cavity, according to M. Welcker, is 
1650; we think this too small. But we must beware lest Ave 
exaggerate. Some of the averages of Morton and B. Davis ought 
to be rejected, as, for example, the Irish skull of 1992 cubic centi- 
metres. The mean capacity of four adult hydrocephalic skulls 
from the Museum Dupuytren, was found by M. Broca to be 3727 
cubic centimetres, and of three adult microcephali 41 4. f The 
cranial capacity seems to vary according to intellectual endow- 

* " Snr la Mensuration de la Capacite du Crane," by M. Broca, in " Mem. 
Soc. d'Anthrop," vol. ii., 2nd series, 1873. 
f See page 165, on demi-microcepliali. 



230 EESULTS. [Chap. ii. 

ment. The skulls of Parisians of the 19th century are more capa- 
cious than those of the 12th ; those from the Morgue more so than 
those from certain cemeteries. The following are some of M. Broca's 
examples of mean capacity : 

88 Auvergnians 
69 Gauls from Brittany . . . 
63 Lower Brittany 
124 Parisians 
18 Caverne de I'Homme Mort 

20 Guanches 

60 Spaniards (Basques) ... 
28 Oorsicans 

84 Merovingians ... 

22 Chinese 

12 Esquimaux 

54 New Caledonians 

85 Negroes of Western Africa 
7 Tasmanians 

18 Australians 

21 Nubians ... 

We repeat that in the present state of the science the process 
with shot, provided the instructions are rigidly carried out, gives 
the most uniform results. M. Broca has been engaged in making- 
very careful experiments with millet and mustard seed, but he 
has not yet given us an opportunity of judging of their relative 
value. To show how important the matter is, we may mention 
that after a skull had been measured very carefully with millet by 
a foreign craniologist, on our repeating the process we discovered 
a difference of 100 cubic centimetres. 

However, we may make use of the tables already published of 
cubic measurements with other substances, provided we do not 
compare them with those of a similar kind. The figures of an 
operator who follows his own particular method of working have a 
relative value of their own. The most important are those of 
Morton, Welcker, Barnard Davis, and Mantegazza. The following 
are some of the principal averages of Morton : ^ 

4S- ({ Thesaurus Craniorum ; or, Catalogue of Skulls of various Kaces of 
Men/' by Barnard Davis. One vol. London, 1867. 



Men. 


Women. 


Cub. cent. 


Cub. cent. 


1598 


1445 


1599 


1426 


1564 


1366 


1558 


1337 


1606 


1507 


1557 


1353 


1574 


1356 


1552 


1367 


1504 


1361 


1518 


1383 


1539 


1428 


1460 


1330 


1430 


1251 


1452 


1201 


1347 


1181 


1329 


1298 



Chap, ii.] 



CEPHALO-ORBITAL INDEX. 



231 



38 Europeans 

18 Mongols 

79 Negroes of Africa 

10 „ of Oceania 
152 Peruvians 

25 Mexicans 
164 Americans (other) 



Cranl. capacity. 
1534 
1421 
1364 
1234 
1234 
1339 
1234 



In Mr. Davis's method the sand made use of is from the seashore 
near Calais, and thoroughly well dried. The skull is weighed 
when empty and again when full, and the calculation made accord- 
ingly. The actual weight of the sand, which is supposed to be 
invariable, being 1425, we deduct from it one ounce, avoir- 
dupois (English), representing a volume of one cubic inch and 
215-thousandths (English), or 19 cubic centimetres and 892- 
thousandths (French). To convert Mr. Davis's ounces and 
tenths of ounces it is sufficient to multiply them by 19*892. 
The f ollowino- are some of his cubic measurements so converted : ^" 





Cub, cent 


146 Ancient Britons 


1524 


36 Anglo-Saxons 


1412 


39 Saxons 


1488 


31 Irish 


1472 


18 Swedes 


1500 


23 Netherlanders .- 


1496 


9 Lapps 


1440 


21 Chinese 


1452 


116 Kanakas 


1470 


27 Marquesan Islanders 


1452 


7 Maoris 


... 1446 


12 Dahoman Negroes 


1452 


9 New Hebrideans 


1432 


15 Australians 


1295 



Cephalo- Orhital Index. 

The brain-case is not the only cavity of the skull of which cubic 
measurements have been made. The cavities and sinuses communi- 
catinsj with the nasal fossae have also been measured. M. Man- 



" Crania Americana," by S. G. Morton. Folio. Philadelphia, 1839. 



232 



CEANIOMETRICAL MEASUEEMENTS. 



[Chap. ii. 



tegazza has made the orbits his special study in this respect. He 
closes the orifices with wax, and fills the cavities with mercury, 
the volume of which he afterwards measures. The sum of the 
volumes of both orbits thus obtained he compares with the cerebral 
capacity. This is the cephalo-orbital index. His mean upon 200 
adult skulls from various sources was 27*2, and the extremes 22*7, 
and 86*5, not taking into account an index, evidently abnormal, of 
53*8 in an American skull. But it is important to be able to 




Fig, 26. — The Callipers (Oompas d'Epaisseur), 

distinguish between one race and another. To this end we have 
taken from M. Mantegazza's measurements of these 200 skulls 
recently published, 20 Italians and 12 isTegroes and Oceanians, and 



the following are their cephalo-orbital 

20 Italians 

2 Australians 

3 New Zealanders 
6 Negroes ... 



ndices 



27-73 
25-61 
32-49 
27.19 



" Dei Caratteri Gerarchia del Cranio Umano," by Paolo Mantegazza, in 
•'ArcMvio dell' Anthropologia e la Etnologia." Florence, 1875. 



Chap, ii.] 



CRANIOMETEICAL POINTS. 



The number of each series, except the first, is unfortunately too 
few for us to be able to form any conclusion respecting them. 
The ISTew Zealanders appear to have larger orbital cavities than the 
Australians in proportion to the cerebral cavity. 

This result should be considered, according to M. Mantegazza's 

. proposal, by comparing Man with the anthropoid apes, namely, that 

the orbital capacity is smaller relatively to the cranial capacity, 

that the dominant place is less elevated in the organic series ; this 

however wants confirmation. 




II iJ X £,i.&.ii.i a; a: ml 



Fig. 27.— Sliding Compass (Compas Glissifere). 



Cranio7netrical Measure7nenis. 

The first to engage our attention will be the straight ones, which 
are taken with the callipers and sliding compass (see Eigs. 26 
and 27), and the curved with the ordinary measuring tape. We 
shall consider successively those of the cranium proper and those of 
the face, first in their ensemUe and then in their separate regions. 

The cranium, when separated from the face, as we see it in 
many specimens from old graves, has the form of an ovoid, with 
the larger extremity looking backwards and the smaller flattened 



234 CEANIOMETRICAL POINTS. [Chap. ii. 

slightly at the side. It is this ovoid which we have to measure by 
means of its three principal circumferences and diameters. Before 
proceeding farther, however, we must briefly explain a number of 
terms which we have already employed, having reference to the 
principal marks (j)omts de reiJere). Some are single and median, 
others lateral and in pairs. (See Eigs. 2, 3, and 5.) 

Glabella, a swelling sometimes replaced by a depression between tlie two 
superciliary arches. 

Supra-orhital point, or supra-nasal, or ophryon (from 6cf)pvs, an eyelid), 
is tbe middle of the transverse line of the frontal bone, which corresponds 
to the prolongation of the base of the skull and to the root of the orbits. 

Metopic point (from jieTcoTrov, the forehead), a point situated on the 
median line between the two frontal eminences. 

Bregma, point of meeting of the coronal and sagittal sutures. 

Vertex, the highest point of the vault of the cranium. 

Ohelion (from o/3eXds-, a dart ; in Latin, sagittalis, sagittal suture), the 
region situated between the two parietal foramina, where the sagittal 
suture becomes simple, which is generally at its fourth posterior fifth. 

LaniMa, place of meeting of the sagittal or biparietal suture with the 
lambdoidal or parieto-occipital. 

Maximum occipital point, spot on the maximum antero-posterior 
diameter proceeding from the glabella. 

Inion (from Ivlovy the nape of the neck), the external occipital pro- 
tuberance. 

Opistliion {to otvlctOlov, the posterior point), the posterior border of the 
occipital foramen at the median line. 

Basion (from (Sdats, the base), anterior border of the occipital foramen at 
the median line. 

Stephanion (from o-T€(j)dvr], a crown, the coronal suture), spot where the 
coronal suture crosses the temporal ridge. 

Pterion (from Trrepov, a wing; wings of the sphenoid), the region where 
the frontal parietal, temporal, and sphenoid bones meet, in the form of an H. 

Asterion (from daTrjp, a star), point behind the mastoid process, where 
the parietal, occipital, and temporal bones meet. 

Nasal point, middle of the naso-frontal suture at the root of the nose. 

Suh-nasal point, middle of the inferior border of the anterior nares, and 
if this point cannot be found, the base of the nasal spine. 

Alveolar point, superior alveolar border in front of the median line. 

Mental point (point mentonnier), inferior border of the inferior maxillary 
bone in front of the median line. 

Auricular point, centre of the external orifice of the auditory canal. 

Supra-auricular point, above the preceding at the longitudinal root of 
the zygomatic process. 



Chap, ii.] 



PEINCIPAL MEASUREMENTS. 



235 



Bacryon (from duKpv, a tear), a point on the sides of the root of the nose 
where the frontal, the os unguis, and the ascending process of the superior 
maxillary bone meet. 

Jtigal point, point situated at the angle which the posterior border of the 
frontal branch of the malar bone makes with the superior border of its 
zygomatic branch. 

Malar point, point situated on the tubercle on the external surface of the 
malar bone ; and when this does not exist, the point at the junction of a 
horizontal line going from the inferior border of the orbit to the superior 
border of the zygomatic arch, and a vertical line going from the external 
lip of the fronto-malar suture to the tubercle which is situated at the border 
of the inferior external angle of the malar bone. 

Gonion (from ycovla, an angle), the region of the angle of the lower jaw. 

We shall also give a table of the principal measurements, as 
obtained by M. Broca on 77 men and 41 women from his series of 
contemporary Parisian skulls.^ 

Diameters. 
Antero-posterior, maximum 
Traaisyerse, maximum... 
Vertical or basilo-bregmatic 
Transverse frontal, minimum or inferior . . 

,, ,, Stephanie or superior.. 

,, occipital, maximum 

Curves. 
Median frontal, sub -cerebral 
„ „ cerebral 

„ parietal 
„ occipital supra-iniac 
,, „ cerebellar... 

Transverse, supra-auricular 

„ total 

Horizontal, anterior ... 
,, posterior 

,, total ... ..., 

Face. 
Length 

Width, bizygomatic ... 
Length, skeleton of nose . . . 
Width 



Men. 


"Women 


182-7 


.. 174-3 


145-2 


.. 135-5 


132-0 


.. 125-1 


100-0 


.. 93-2 


121-7 


.. 113-1 


112-5 


.. 106-5 


Men. 


"Women 


18-1 


.. 16-5 


110-9 


.. 106-1 


126-3 . 


.. 121-4 


71-5 


.. 68-5 


47-9 


.. 46-1 


312-4 


.. 291-5 


445-1 


.. 415-6 


251-2 


.. 233-6 


274-4 


.. 264-4 


525-6 . 


.. 498-0 


Men. 


Women. 


87-7 . 


.. 80-8 


133-0 


.. 122-5 


51-3 . 


.. 48-3 


24-1 . 


.. 22-7 



* " Memoire sur la Eace Celtique," by M. Broca, in " Revue d' Anthropo- 
logic," vol. ii., 1873. 



236 CEPHALIC INDEX. [Chap. ii. 

Indices. Men. Women. 



Cephalic 
Frontal 
Stephanie 
Vertical 
Facial ... 

Orbital 
Nasal ... 
Occipital foramen 



79-5 ... II-'J 

68-8 ... 68-8 

82-4 ... 82-0 

72-2 ... 71-2 

65-9 ... 65-9 

85-7 ... 88-2 

46-8 ... 47-0 

84-9 ... 84-5 



Ce;plialic Index. 

The first measurements on the skull which should be taken, 
when we have no time to take more, are its greatest length, or 
maximum antero-posterior diameter, and its greatest breadth, or 
maximum transverse diameter. They are of the greater value from 
the fact that, Avith one or two exceptions, the same methods of pro- 
ceeding are usually followed, and the same marks {points de repere) 
made use of by all craniologists. The relation of one cephalic 
index to another is the same for all, an index which M. Gaussin 
calls the horizontal, in contradistinction from another less important 
— the vertical. He expresses the general form of the skull very 
much according to Blumenbach's norma verticalls. 

The antero-posterior diameter extends from the glabella to the 
farthest point of the skull behind, at that point which we have 
called maximum occipital, and which we mark with a pencil for 
ulterior proceedings. Morton, Eetzius, Thurnam, and Davis, Yon 
Biier, Broca, Virchow, Ecker, and Wiesbach, are unanimous on 
this matter. M. Welcker alone dissents ; his corresponding dia- 
meter extends from the interval between the frontal eminences to 
the same maximum occipital point. This is the diameter which 
M. Broca selects, with another object in view, under the name of 
antero-posterior metopic. The maximum transverse diameter is 
taken, as its name indicates, transversely and maximum, whatever 
the spot may be where it falls, by Morton, Eetzius, Von Baer, 
Broca, Ecker, Wiesbach. We must avoid going too low, where we 
sometimes meet with the supra-mastoidean projection mentioned at 



Chap. II.] CEPHALIC INDEX. 237 

page 212. Precaution must be taken to liold the two legs of the 
compass perfectly horizontally, in order that the diameter may not 
be oblique in the slightest degree. The method of Welcker slightly 
differs from this: he places the points of the instrument at the 
junction of the two vertical and horizontal circumferences, about 
which we shall have more to say presently. M. Virchow at one 
time had also his particular mode of proceeding ; his mark {point 
de reijere) was situated a little above the middle portion of the 
superior border of the temporal. Eut neither of the transverse 
diameters of these observers was the maximum. 

M. Yirchow, however, in his " Memoir on the Skulls of Copen- 
hagen," in 1872, appears decidedly to have come round to the 
French method. It appears from the " Crania Eritannica," that 
the authors of that work have not recognised the maximum trans- 
verse diameter, but on referring to the " Thesaurus Craniorum," by 
Mr. Earnard Davis, it is evident that in this respect they are at 
one with most craniologists. 

It follows that the cephalic index, that is to say the relation 
of the maximum transverse diameter to the maximum antero- 
posterior diameter, of which the formula is j^te'^p^ost diam ' pi'esents 
itself under precisely the same conditions to Morton, Eetzius, 
Thurnam, Yon Eaer, Broca, Davis, Ecker, "Wiesbach, Pruner- 
Eey, as well as to the Italian anthropologists, that it was 
diminished at the expense of the transverse diameter by the 
original method of Virchow, and that it only differs from that 
of M. Welcker. 

This index varies in the human races from 71*40 in Greenlanders 
to 85-63 in Lapps, in the averages of the series ; and from 62*62 in 
a New Caledonian to 9 2 '7 7 in a Slav (Wend) in particular instances. 
The difference is greater if we include the distorted skulls. A 
scaphocephalus in the Laboratory of Anthropology has an index of 
56-33, and a Peruvian skull of an Inca, one of 103. The extreme 
indices are found in the long or dolichocephalic skulls of Eetzius, 
and in his round or brachy cephalic."^ Eetween the two a term 
was wanted to designate the medium skulls, and M. Eroca has 
* «' Ethnologische Sclirifteii," Ibj A. Eetzius. Stockholm, 1864. 



238 CEPHALIC INDEX. [Chap. ii. 

called them mesaticepliali. But from tlie fact that in practice there 
exists a vast variety between the extremes of the groups, M. Broca 
gave the name of suh-dolichocephali to the skulls which were less 
long, and suh-brachycephali to those which were less round. Hence 
he makes five divisions, as follows : 

CEPHALIC INDICES. 

Dolichocepliali ... ... ... ... 75*00 and under 

Snb-dolicliocephali 75-01 to 77-77 

Mesaticepliali 77*78 „ 80*00 

Snb-brachycepliali 80-01 „ 83-33 

Bracliycepliali 83*34 and above 

This nomenclature is universally adopted in the present day, 
as being most generally useful, except by Thurnam, Huxley, and 
Welcker. 

In Thurnam's system the dolichocephali are 71 and under; the 
sub-dolichocephali from 72 to 73 ; the orthocephali, which replace 
M. Broca's mesaticephali, from 74 to 76; the sub-brachycephali 
from 77 to 79 ; and the brachycephali 80 and above. The 
system of M. Welcker differs slightly from this. His orthocep]iali 
are from 74 to 78 ; his sub-brachycephali from 79 to 80 ; and his 
brachycephali 81 and above. In Mr. Huxley's system the terms 
themselves are altered. His mecistocephali are 69 and under; the 
mesocephali 71 to 74 ; the orthocephali 74 to 77; the sub-brachy- 
cephali from 77 to 80; the eurycephali from 80 to 85; and the 
brachystocephali 86 and above. The term " orthocephalus " in the 
three systems is given from the belief that such an average is more 
satisfactory and more suitable than others. These differences of 
terms and limits of groups, moreover^ lose all their interest to the 
foreigner, inasmuch as we are in the habit of expressing the form 
of a skull simply by the index figure. 

In the course of this work we confine ourselves to M. Broca's 
nomenclature. 

The cephalic index of Welcker being the only one which 
fundamentally differs from ours, that is to say in the method of 
taking the two diameters, we have endeavoured to determine in 
what that difference consists. The following is a resume of the 



Chap, il] CEPHALIC INDEX. 239 

comparative results of our own and M. Welcker's measurements of 
25 Auvergnians and 25 negroes; tliey express the difference in 
plus or minus by M. Welcker's method : 

Auvergnians. Negroes. 

Indiridual variations, from + 1-22 to - 5-39 From + 1-39 to - 6-39 
Mean „ „ -1-38 „ +0-93 

The two means are contradictory, which is not surprising, con- 
sidering the like variations in plus and minus. On the one hand 
the transverse diameter of "Welcker is always smaller, and his 
antero-posterior sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, according as 
the frontal eminences are projecting or not. On the other, our 
antero-posterior diameter varies with the projection of the glabella. 
It is admitted, however, that the indices of Welcker are weaker 
by two units, and his averages are really smaller than those of other 
observers. But two units would be too much, and for our part 
we have come to the conclusion that there is no possible advantage 
in making a comparison between the results of the two systems. 

One of the first effects of the methodical arrangement of the form 
of the skull, on an examination of a large number of specimens, was 
the reversal of a celebrated doctrine of Eetzius. He stated that 
the aboriginal races of Europe, which were then represented by the 
jFins and the Basques, are brachycephalic^ while the races next 
in order are dolichocephalic. The discovery that the Basques are 
dolichocephalic gave the first blow to this belief ; that of the 
ancient fossil skulls, all of which were dolichocephalic, completed it. 
It was subsequently established that the negro races are generally 
very dolichocephalic, and the greater number of the Mongol races 
brachycephalic. It is only lately that a brachycephalic race has 
been discovered among the blacks of Oceania. The Hyperborean 
race, indeed, was separated as soon as it was ascertained that in 
point of number the Lapps and Esquimaux, which were both in- 
cluded under this title, are, the former the most brachycephalic, 
and the latter the most dolichocephalic in the world. Considering 
the importance of the cephalic index, which however is one of 
those empirical characters to which we have already alluded, we 
shall crive tables of it derived from various sources. 



240 CEPHALIC INDEX. 

The first is that of M. Broca."^ 



[Chap. ii. 



(1) DOLICHOCEPHALIC. 

27 Australians ... 

21 Esquimaux of Greenland . , 
54 New Caledonians 

18 Hottentots and Bushmen .. 
8 Kaffirs 

85 Negroes of Western Africa 
6 Cro-Magnon and Paris diluvium (Stone period) 

19 Troglodytes of La Lozere (Polished Stone epoch) 

22 Nubians of the Elephantine Isle ... 

19 Arabians of Algeria... ... ... ... 

12 Pariahs of Calcutta ... 
11 Berbers 



71-49 
71-71 

71-78 
72-42 
72-54 
73-40 
73-34 
73:22 
73-72 
74-06 
74-17 
74-63 



(2) SUB-DOLICHOCEPHALIC. 

54 Dolmens at the north of Paris (Polished Stone epoch) 

28 Corsicans of Avapessa (18th century) 

20 Guanches of the Canaries ... 

81 Ancient Egyptians ... 

26 Dolmens of La Lozere (Polished Stone epoch) 

10 Tasmanians ... 

41 Polynesians ... 

81 Merovingians 

12 Modern Egyptians, Copts 

60 Spanish Basques (Guipuzcoa) 

28 Chinese 



75-01 
75-35 
75-53 
75-58 
75-86 
76-11 
76-30 
76-36 
76-39 
77-62 
77-60 



(3) MESATICEPHALIC. 

44 Troglodytes de la Marne (Baye, Polished Stone epoch) ... 78-09 

36 Gauls 78-09 

25 Mexicans (not distorted) ... ... ... ... ... 78*12 

53 Normands of the l7th century (St. Arnould, Calvados) 78-77 

49 Hollanders ' 78-89 

16 Troglodytes of L'Oise (Orrouy) (Polished Stone epoch) 79*50 

384 Parisians from the 12th to the 19th century 79-45 

27 South Americans (not distorted) 79*16 

36 North Americans „ 79-25 



* " Sur la Classification et la Nomenclature d'apres les Indices Cepha- 
liques," by Paul Broca, in " Kevue d'Anthrop.," vol. i. p. 385, 1872. 



Chap, ii.] 



CEPHALIC INDEX. 



241 



(4) SUB-BRACHYCEPHALIC. 

57 Frencb. Basques (St. Jean-de-Luz) 80-25 

4 Esthonians 90-39 

63 Bretons (Low) from the north coast (Cantons Bretonnats) 81-25 

11 Mongols, various ... ... ... ... ... ... 81 '40 

11 Turks 81-49 

29 Javanese (Yrolik collection) 81-61 

7S Bretons (Low) from the north coast (Cantons Gallots) 82-05 

11 Alsatians and Lorrainians 82*93 



(5) BRACHYCEPHALIC. 

10 Indo-Chinese 

22 Savoyards 

5 Fins 

88 Auvergnians (St. Nectaire-le-Haut) 

11 Croats 

6 Bavarians and Suabians 

11 Lapps 

12 Syrians of Gebel-Cheikh (slightly distorted) 



83-51 
83-63 
83-69 
84-07 
84-83 
84-87 
85-07 
85-95 



The following table is teken from the " Thesaurus Craniorum " 
of Mr, Barnard Davis, and from the supplement to the same 
work. We wish especially to direct attention to the three series 
of Esquimaux, and the four of the savage tribes of India : 



146 Ancient Britons 


.. 77-0 


36 Anglo-Saxons 


.. 76-0 


39 English 


.. 77-0 


31 Irish 


.. 75-0 


12 Swedes 


.. 75-0 


14 Prussians 


.. 78-9 


10 Fins 


.. 82-0 


14 Esquimaux of Greenland, or Eastern . . . 


.. 71-3 


6 „ „ Central ... 


.. 75-1 


6 „ „ Western... 


.. 75-3 


116 Kanakas of the Sandwich Islands 


.. 80-0 


34 Marquesan Islanders 


.. 77-6 


7 Maoris of New Zealand 


.. 75-0 


17 Tasmanians 


.. 75-6 


28 Australians 


.. 71-8 


7 Kashgars and Yarkandians 


.. 76-4 


10 AfEghans 


.. 79-0 


11 Birmese 


.. 86-6 



242 



VEETICAL INDEX. 



[Chap. ii. 



8 Assam tribes ... ... ... ... ... 76"4 

45 Tribes of Sotitliern Himalaya 76'0 

12 „ Central India 73-3 

8 „ tlie coast of Coromandel (India) ... 73*5 

The following list of M. Wiesbacli relates entirely to one 
special group of peoples : 



30 Riithenians (Slavs of tlie North) 


.. 82-3 


40 Poles „ 


.. 82-9 


20 Slovacians „ „ 


.. 83-5 


40 Tehees „ „ 


.. 83-1 


72 Croats (Slavs of the South) 


.. 84-4 


19 Slovenans „ „ 


.. 81-3 


41 EoTimanians 


.. 82-8 


40 Magyars 


.. 82-3 


L30 Austrians (German) 


.. 82-0 


40 Italians (North) 


.. 81-8 



The following is a series collected from various sources. The 
Veddahs ought to be included with those of India in the pre- 
ceding tables, and the Aleutians with the Western Esquimaux of 
Mr. Davis's list : 



101 Esquimaux (Bessels) 
12 Yeddahs of Ceylon (various authors) 

5 Tehuelches of Patagonia (Topinard) 

5 Amos (various authors) ... 
12 Bulgarians (Koperni9ki) 

9 Tsiganians (Hovelacque) 
20 „ (Koperm9ki) 

15 Aleutians (Bessels) 

9 Andamans (various authors) 
12 Magyars (Lenhossek) 
100 Germans, Southern (Ecker) 
10 Roumanians (Hovelacque) 
30 Lapps from Scandinavian museums (Hamy) 

Tlie Vertical Index. 



. 71-37 

. 71-75 

. 72-22 

. 76-00 

. 76-60 

. 77-45 

. 77-40 

. 78-00 

. 81-87 

. 82-90 

. 83-00 

. 84-06 

. 84-93 



The vertical index, or index of height, is less important. It gives 
the form of the skull according to an antero-posterior section, which 
divides the cranial ovoid into two lateral halves, in the same way 
as the cephalic index, or the index of breadth gives the form of 



Chap, ii.] 



YEETICAL UsTDEX. 



the skull such as is shown by the norma verticalis of Blumenbach. 
It is the relation of the vertical diameter to the before-mentioned 

, . , -ri. £ 1 • "^erfc. diam, X 100. 

maximum antero-posterior diameter, its tormuia is Xiite7:^t. diam. 

But there is a want of unanimity here ; in France there is only 
one way of taking the vertical diameter ; in other countries there 
are several different ways. There is not the slightest doubt that 
its inferior extremity should commence at the occipital foramen, 
and, for greater precision, at the basion. But where are we to 
make its superior extremity meet 1 What we look for first is the 




Fig. 28. — A P Q, Alveolo-condylean plane ; K V, True vertical diameter in relation to this 
plane : K G, Plane of the occipital foramen ; K V, Vertical diameter of Mr. B. Davis 
in relation to this plane ; K B, Vertical or basilo-bregmatic diameter of M. Broca ; 
K N, Naso-basilar line ; K A, Alveolo-basilar line ; A N, Naso-alveolar line ; K N A, 
Facial triangle of Vogt ; K E, Basilo-sub-nasal line ; N E, Naso-sub-nasal line ; KNE, 
Facial triangle of Welcker. For the other lines, &c., see Fig. 5. 

culminating point of the vertex. How are we to determine it? 
Some guess it ; others make it have relation to one of the natural 
planes at the base of the skull. !N"ow, if, following the example of 
Mr. B. Davis, we make it have relation to the plane of the occipital 
foramen, it falls generally about three or four centimetres behind 
the bregma, while if it has relation to the real plane of the base, 
the alveolo-condylean, it corresponds as nearly as possible to the 
bregma. The following shows the situation of the vertex in front 

R 2 



244 



VERTICAL INDEX. 



[Chap. ii. 



( + ) or behind ( - ) the bregma in either case. V when it is 
determined by the plane of the occipital foramen, K C, as in 
Eig. 28 ; Y, when by the alveolo-condylean plane A P Q.^ 



12 Caverne de rHomme Mort . , 


v. 
MiU. 

. -42 


V. 

MiU. 




21 Ativergnians 

21 Bretons (Low) 

16 Mongols and Chinese 

21 Nubians 


. - 41 

. - 40 

- 33 

. -26 


- 1 

- 1 

+ 3 

- 9 


31 Negroes of Africa 


. -32 


-10 



"Whence does this difference arise ? In the first case, V, from the 
angular deviation of the plane of the occipital foramen, the 
anterior border of which is raised in white races and depressed in 
the inferior races. In the second, V, from the vertex being 
placed as it appears on the living subject when the individual looks 
straight in front of him. But this vertex perceptibly corresponds to 
the bregma. Why not then simplify the manual proceeding by 
directly taking the basilo-bregmatic diameter as the vertical 
diameter 1 This is what M. Broca has done. 

In 250 Parisians, the vertical index, thus understood, was 71*8. 

The following are some examples borrowed from M, Broca, in 
which sex is taken account of :t 

63 Bretons (Low) 

28 Corsicans 
125 Parisians (19t]i century) 
13 Esquimaux 
88 Auvergnians ... 
85 Negroes of Africa 
54 New Caledonians 

27 Chinese 

18 Caverne de rHomme Mort ... 

This table is rather favourable to M. Yirchow's view ; his own 
figures indeed cannot express it more strongly. He puts the 

* "Examen des Mesures Craniometriques du 'Thesaurus Craniorum,'" by 
Paul Topinard, in " Eevue d'Anthrop." vol. ii. p. 99. 

+ " Les Cranes Anciens d'Origine Septentrionale a Copenhague," by Eod. 
Virchow, in " Arch, fiir Anthrop.," vol. iv., 1871. 



Men. 


Women. 


71-6 . 


.. 70-8 


71-5 . 


.. 72-6 


72-2 . 


.. 71-7 


72-8 . 


.. 734 


73-6 . 


.. 73-8 


734 . 


.. 73-5 


73-7 . 


.. 74-6 


77-2 . 


.. 76-8 


68-9 . 


.. 730 



Chap, ii.] ANTEEO-POSTERIOE CIECUMFERENCE. 245 

vertical index in tlie first line among his craniometrical measure- 
ments. 

The following are those which he published some years ago. 
The first column gives the ordinary vertical index; the second the 
relation of its height, not to the length, but to the breadth of the 
skull : 





Height to length. 


Height to breadth. 


6 Lapps 


76-0 ... 


... 80-2 


5 Greenlanders ... 


74-0 .... 


... 1030 


3 Fins 


73-2 ... 


... 91-1 



This table also shows the defective side. Esquimaux have one 
of the most, if not the most, elevated skulls in existence ; Lapps, 
at least those in the museum, have, on the contrary, one of the 
least so. According to the foregoing table it is the reverse. It is 
because in every index there are two factors. In the ordinary 
cephalic, the one by increasing, the other by diminishing, or the 
reverse, contribute to the same end. In this there is nothing of 
the kind. The vertical index of the first column is small in the 
Esquimaux, because the length of the skull in proportion to its 
height is enormous ; it is large in the Lapps because this length is 
reduced to a minimum. The second index appears more to the 
point ', the same objection, however, is applicable to it, except that 
it has reference more to the breadth. In our opinion, by adding 
together the two indices, and taking the mean, the result would be 
more correct. We should thus have a mixed index of height of 
88-5 in the Esquimau, of 82*5 in the Lapp, and of 82-1 in the 
Ein ; which is in accordance with what we should expect from the 
appearance of these skulls. This new index would enable one to 
distinguish, otherwise than by- the view, the acrocephalic, or 
elevated, from the platycephalic, or low skulls. In the 384 
Parisians of M. Broca it is 77*2. 

The three foregoing diameters, and the three circumferences of 
which we are about to speak, are the fundamental measurements 
by means of which the cranial ovoid is recognised in its ensemble. 

The various sections of the antero-posterior circumference are 
taken with the tape as follows: (1) The sub-cerebral, or that sub- 



246 TRANSVEESE CIRCUMFERENCE. [Chap. ii. 

jacent to tlie brain, from the nasal to the supra-orbital point. (2) The 
cerebral or frontal, from this point to the bregma. (3) The parietal, 
from the bregma to the lambda. (4) The occipital, from the lambda 
to the inion. (5) From the inion to the opisthion. The length of 
the occipital foramen and the naso-basilar line, in a direct line from 
the basion to the naso-frontal suture, the jpoint de depart of the 
circuit, complete the circumference. Its different parts are more in 
use, indeed, than its ensemble for the purpose of comparing the 
development of each portion of the skull. Logically, the sub- 
cerebral, which belongs to the face, should be excluded from it, and 
we should substitute for the naso-basilar line, the ophryo-basilar 
line ; but custom has decided otherwise. 

The transverse circumference consists of two portions — one, the 
supra-auricular, going from a point situated above the auditory 
foramen, on the line passing from the longitudinal root of the 
zygomatic process to the analogous point on the opposite side, 
passing through the bregma ; the other, but little used, connecting 
the same two points by passing beneath the skull. It is customary, 
with a view to ulterior operations, to mark with a pencil on the 
sides of the skull the outline of this curve, which divides it into 
two parts, viz. the anterior and the posterior. The horizontal 
circumference commences at the supra-orbital point, crosses the 
temporal ridge at the spot where the minimum frontal diameter is 
taken, reaches the maximum occipital point, and returns to its 
point of departure on the opposite side. The maximum antero- 
posterior diameter represents its great axis. It naturally divides 
itself into two parts, the one anterior the other posterior to the 
before-mentioned transverse curve. By comparing each of these 
parts to the whole, = 100, we at once have an idea of the relative 
development of the anterior and posterior cranium, and determine 
whether the subject is to be included among the frontal or occipital 
races of Gratiolet. The following are some examples of the hori- 
zontal circumference : 

Men. Women. 

Auvergnians 43 524-6 ... 39 502*8 

Contemporary Parisians ... V7 525-6 ... 41 498 "0 

Lapps ... 6 512-2 ... 3 504*0 



Chap, ii.] 



HORIZONTAL CIECUMFERENCE. 



247 



Chinese 

Negroes of Africa ... 
New Caledonians 
Hottentots and Bosjesmans.. 



Men. 

21 511-6 
54 512-0 
23 510-0 
10 500-7 



Women. 

7 495-8 
24 489-1 
24 494-4 

5 483-6 



Some craniologists discard the transverse circumference, but all 
accept the other two. M. Welcker alone deviates from the method 
of measuring the horizontal circumference hy taking it round the 
frontal eminences in front, and the maximum occipital point 
behind. The difference between the measurement made in this 
way was three millimetres less than that by the ordinary method 




Fig, 29.— mm, Minimxim frontal diameter; S S, Superior frontal or bistephanic diameter 
of Broca ; S T, Oblique lines of M. de Quatrefages determining the parietal angle ; 
G, Width of the nasal orifice, one of the factors of the nasal index : in the orbital 
cavity are the two lines showing the orbital index ; O, Supra-orbital point ; N, Nasal 
point ; B, Sub-nasal point ; A, Alveolar point, &c. See Fig. 3. 

in 25 Auvergnians, and 18 more in 25 :N'egroes ; which proves that 
the region of the frontal eminences was less developed in the 
former, and exceptionally very projecting and very elevated in the 
latter. 

The utility of the horizontal circumference may be noticed, 



248 PARTIAL MEASUEEMENTS OF THE CRANIUM. [Chap. ii. 

especially wlieii we liave to determine 'certain extraordinary patho- 
logical conditions, such, as niicrocephalus and hydrocephalus. The 
following, taken upon adults only, show : 

4 Microcephali ... ... ... ... 349 

20 Demi-microcephali ... ... ... 432 to 480 (about) 

1 Moderate hydroceplialus 556 

4 Exceptional „ 640 



The same circumference, by M. Welcker's method, was 654 in 
the last four, the excess being owing to the projection of the 
metopic point, and the frontal eminences in front of the supra- 
orbital point. The cases of negroes in which the circumference of 
M. Welcker exceeded ours, were attributable to the same cause. 
Having measured the cranial ovoid in its ensemble, we now pro- 
ceed to measure its details. To the parietal measurements already 
indicated of the antero-posterior and horizontal circumferences, we 
will add here the transverse diameters of the frontal and the 
occipital. 

Many measurements are taken on the frontal : (1) The chord of its 
antero-posterior curve^ as well as of its other curves ; (2) The 
transverse diameters. M. Broca makes two : The superior transverse, 
or Stephanie (S S, Fig. 29), whose two measuring points are the 
stephanions at the union of the temporal ridge and the coronal 
suture ; and the inferior or minimum (M M, Fig. 29). M. Ecker 
and Mr. Davis take a maximum transverse frontal, but on the 
coronal, wherever it may happen to be. Morton takes one only, 
namely at the inferior and anterior angle of the parietals. 
Welcker and Yirchow take the distance from one frontal eminence 
to the other. The most important, undoubtedly, is the minimum 
frontal, and Broca, Ecker, Bogdanoif, Mantegazza, &c., are of the 
same opinion. We say little of M. Pruner-Bey, because he has 
never indicated exactly his method of proceeding. In his tables 
the inferior frontal of 30 negroes is 100 millimetres; this evidently 
cannot be their minimum. The minimum transverse frontal, M M, 
is measured from the two points of the temporal ridge which most 



Chap. ii. ] 



MINIMUM FEONTAL DIAMETEE. 



249 



nearly approach eacli other, above the external orhital processes. 
It generally corresponds, in white races, with the transverse line, 
marking the separation of the cranium from the face ; the supra- 
orbital point is then situated in its centre. In the inferior races it 
has a tendency to be elevated, and in some exceptional cases it 
ascends as high as the vertex. It is, nevertheless, usual to take 
it above the superciliary arches, so that the epithet " inferior " woidd 
be a better one. The following are some examples of this, 
measurement : 





Millimetres. 


384 Parisians 


95-7 


88 Anvergnians 


97-7 


60 Basques (Spanish) 


96-1 


58 „ (French) 


... 96-2 


69 Gallo-Bretons 


98-0 


63 Bretons (Low) 


97-3 


18 Caverne de rHomme Mort 


92-0 


8 Lapps 


100-0 


28 Chinese 


92-5 


15 Esquimaux ... 


941 


82 Negroes of Africa 


94-2 


22 Nubians 


... 93-2 


54 New Caledonians 


93-5 


8 Tasmanians 


94-0 


12 Australians 


92-7 



To be sure there are marked differences between one sex and the 
other. For example : In 54 negroes, the diameter was 95 milli- 
metres, and in 24 negresses, 90; 23 E'ew Caledonian men, 95, 
24 women, 91 j 43 Auvergnians, males, 108, 39 females, 95, &c. 
The narrowest forehead observed by M. Broca is 82 in a female 
Parisian of the same period, and the widest, 122, in a male Parisian. 
But what is i)robably of greater importance is the relation between 
this minimum breadth and the maximum breadths of the parts of 
the cranial envelope, situated in front and behind. M. Broca com- 
pares this minimum frontal diameter (1) To the superior and 
maximum frontal, or Stephanie diameter upon the temporal ridge ; 
(2) To the transverse maximum diameter of the skuU. Hence a 



250 FEONTAL INDEX. [Chap. ii. 

Stephanie index, the averages of which vary in different races from 
79 to 92^ and a frontal index, of which the following are some 
examples : 



384 Parisians 
63 Bretons (Low) 
88 Auvergnians 
15 Esquimaux 

28 Chinese 

29 Javanese 
82 Negroes 

8 Tasmanians 
12 Australians 



G8-0 
67-7 
66-6 



66-5 
64-8 
70-5 
67-0 
71-2 



The maximum transverse occipital diameter extends from 
one asterion to the other. M. Abel Hovelacque made this the 
subject of a paper at the last meeting of the French Association for 
the Advancement of Science, at Lille. "^ The following complete the 
series of transverse straight measurements, which are taken at 
pleasure on the several regions, according to the object we have in 
view : (1) The supra-auricular chord of the transverse curve, already- 
indicated ; (2) A maximum biparietal diameter, which is generally 
confounded with the ordinary maximum transverse ; (3) A bitem- 
poral diameter, its maximum taken at the surface of the temporal 
shell ; (4) A bimastoidean diameter, which extends from the 
middle of the line, passing from the summit of the mastoid process 
to the posterior extremity of the squamous suture of the temporal 
of the other side, according to Thurnam, Davis, and Ecker ; and 
from the same summit of one mastoid process to the other, accord- 
ing to Morton, Welcker, and Yirchow ; (5) The distance from one 
parietal eminence to the other, so extolled by M. Welcker. Various 
projections, angles, and radii contribute to our knowledge of each 
of these several regions. 

We may add that after the ordinary longitudinal diameter, 
M. Broca usually takes the longitudinal metopic, from the metopic 
point to the maximum occipital point, and the longitudinal iniac 
from the glabella to the inion, which, compared to the former, 

* See the Eeport of the session 1874. 



Chap, il] CEPHALO-SPII^AL INDEX. 251 

enables us to know, the one the degree of projection of the forehead, 
the other, with certain limits, how far the cerebral region overlaps 
the cerebellar. "We may add that it measures the breadth and 
the length of the occipital foramen also, and establishes its relation, 
the latter being = 100. M. Broca's methods of measurement not 
having yet been published, we shall give a summary, as to this 
latter point, of the researches of M. Mantegazza. 

This eminent anthropologist has directed his whole attention to 
the occipital foramen. In the first place he has taken its index 
according to M. Eroca's method, and has concluded from it that 
there is no relation between its form and that of the cranium. A 
narrow cranium may have either an elongated, a moderate, or a narrow 
occipital foramen. In the second place, he has measured its super- 
ficies by the aid of little wooden cubes, and, in the interspaces, with 
little metallic needles, and has compared it, expressed in square 
millimetres, to the cranial capacity, expressed in cubic centimetres. 
This last being taken as 100, he thus obtains the cephalo-spinal 
index. In 200 skulls of all kinds, his mean was 18*8, the two 
greatest indices were 29*64 and 27*26, and the two smallest 12*50 
and 13*07. In anthropoids the index is still less, the highest 
being 8*35. In the memoir of M. Mantegazza, already mentioned, 
the same series have given us the following mean cephalo-spinal 
index : 

20 Italians 199 

6 Negroes 16*8 

3 New Zealanders ... ... ... ... ... 17*9 

2 Australians ... ... ... ... ... ... 17*2 

These series are too limited, and moreover, the three inferior 
races occupy a position in them more nearly approaching the 
anthropoids than the superior race represented by the Italians, which 
it is well to notice. 

Measurements of the Face. 

They are general, or special, some having reference to the propor- 
tions as a whole, others to details. The former concern the 
breadth, the length, and the thickness, or median antero-posterior 



252 GENERAL MEASUREMENTS OE THE FACE. [Chap, ii, 

section. The maximum breadth is not situated at the cheek-bones, 
even in the yellow races, but at the zygomatic arches. It is here 
that the maximum transverse or bizygomatic diameter of the face 
is taken ; craniologists are unanimous on this point. A bimalar 
diameter, however, would have been one more meriting considera- 
tion, from the fact that upon it depends the physiognomy of 
the Esquimaux ; but the difficulty to find upon it definite marking 
points of any value, has caused it to be looked upon with disfavour. 
The maximum length is taken in different ways, which it is im- 
portant to point out precisely. It must be remembered, in the 
first place, that on the living subject the face extends from the line 
of the hair at the top of the forehead to the chin, while on the 
skeleton it only commences at the line of separation of the cranium, 
that is to say, at the supra-orbital point. In the second place, 
and considering how rarely we find skulls with the lower jaw 
attached, and the difficulty of replacing the latter in its articulation 
exactly as in the living subject, it is usual to study the lower jaw 
separately, and only to employ the word " face " for the portion above 
the superior alveolar border, which we have elsewhere called " the 
superior face." We have, then, three lengths, which must not be 
confounded; namely, the length of the entire face; the total length 
of the face from the supra-orbital point to the point of the chin; 
and the simple length from the supra-orbital to the alveolar point. 
The following is an extract from M. Pruner-Bey's tables; the 
figures in the first column show the total length of the face, those 
of the second its bizygomatic breadth : 





Length. 
Mill. 


Breadt 
Mill. 


18 Esquimaux 


136 


135 


12 Chinese 


134 


137 


10 Scandinavians 


129 


132 


6 Germans (South) 


127 


131 


30 New Caledonians 


125 


137 


30 Negroes of Africa 


124 


130 


8 Hottentots ... 


116 


123 


6 Lapps 


109 


136 



The part of the face, then, subjacent to the eyebrows is longest 
in the Esquimaux and Chinese, and shortest in the Lapps. On 



Chap, ii.] 



FACIAL INDEX. 



the other hand, the Chinese and the ^N'ew Caledonians have the 
hroadest face, and the Hottentots the narrowest. 

The simple, or ophryo-alveolar, length of the face should no 
longer be confounded with the naso-alveolar line, which goes from 
the nasal to the alveolar point, nor with the height of the face, 
which is the perpendicular falling from the supra-alveolar point 
upon the alveolo-condylean plane. The first two, always oblique, 
are taken with the compass, the last is the vertical projection of 
the face in the normal attitude of the head, and is taken as we see 
in Fig. 32. 

M. Broca compares this length to the bizygomatic diameter, 
under the name of facial index, with this formula Q_ g^y--^ive<)- i x loo 

' Bizygomatic diam. 



The following are some examplei 

13 Esquimaux ... 

80 Negroes 

69 Gallo-Bretons 
88 Auvergnians 
49 New Caledonians ... 
125 Parisians 
12 Australians ... 
8 Tasmanians... 



73-4 
68-6 
68-5 
67-9 
66-2 
65-9 
65-6 
62-6 



The median section of the face (Fig. 28) has the appearance of 
a triangle, whose base is represented by a line p'^ssing from the 
basion, K, to the alveolar point. A, and whose two other sides are 
the naso-basilar line, JN" K, extending from the basion to the nasal 
point, and the naso-alveolar line, of which we have just spoken. 
This last gives the anterior profile of the superior maxilla, and pro- 
duces prognathism ; later on we shall study its inclination. The 
first, or basio-alveolar, is interesting in so far that its elongation or 
shortening causes the naso-alveolar line to be straightened or placed 
farther backwards. With regard to the third, or naso-basilar line, 
as to which it is doubtful whether it forms a constituent part of 
the antero-posterior circumference of the skull, the Germans have 
laid considerable stress upon it. They consider it as the philo- 
sophical base of the cerebral skull ; as the chord of the curve which 
the bodies of the three cranial vertebrae describe; as the axis around 



254 FACIAL TEIANGLE. [Chap. ii. 

which the skull, on the one hand, and the face, on the other, 
revolve. 

The following are its absolute lengths, according to M. Welcker :* 

Millimetres. 
3 Papuans, 2 Birmese .. . ... ... ... ... ... ... 96 

13 Buginese, 2 Lapps, 3 Brazilians 97 

6 Jews 98 

2 Hungarians, 5 Tsiganians, 6 Madurans, 2 Hottentots ... ... 99 

30 Germans, 12 Eussians, 5 Cossacks, 5 Tartars, 16 Chinese, 

2 Mexicans, 20 NegToes 100 

3 Scotcli (HigUanders), 5 Baskirs ... ... ... ... ... 101 

8 French, 6 Hollanders, 6 Malays of Sumatra 102 

9 Fins, 7 Moluccans 103 

5 Australians, 3 Ancient Greeks ... ... ... ... ... 104 

11 Esquimaux ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 106 

2 Kaffirs 107 



We may add that the naso-basilar line is generally shorter in the 
brachycephali than in the dolichocephali, which may easily be 
imagined. 

MM. Welcker and Virchow, who have given special study to the 
facial triangle, compare the naso-basilar line to the rest of the 
antero-posterior circumference of the skull, of which it forms an 
arc. In the following table, this line being =100, the circum- 
ference in the various races would be : 



2 Hottentots 


.. 418 


16 Chinese 


.. 407 


30 Germans 


.. 404 


9 Kalmucks ... 


.. 403 


20 Javanese 


.. 403 


20 Negroes 


.. 402 


5 French 


.. 398 


5 Australians 

•_. 1. J. _J! • J. J.* J._ 1_ _ J... 


.. 395 

T C 



There is no great amount of instruction to be derived from this.. 
The same authors have since compared the naso-basilar line, not to 
the line proceeding from the basion to meet at the alveolar border, 
but to that which, proceeding from the same point, crosses the 

* " Untersuchungen iiber Wachsthum und Bau des Menschlecheni 
Schsedels," by H. Welcker. Leipsic, 1862. 



Chap, ii.] 



FACIAL TRIANGLE. 



255 



vault of tlie palate, and terminates at the sub-nasal point. We 
are at a loss to understand their reason for thus leaving out the 
alveolar arch. The following are the results, the naso-basilar line 
being as j)reviously = 100, the palatine line in question would be : 



4 Egyptians, 2 Ancient Greeks 

3 Scotch, 6 Turks 

8 French, 6 Jews, 5 Tsiganians, 4 Lapps, 5 Tartars, 

9 Zalmncks, 16 Chinese, 7 Moluccans 

11 Esquimaux, 6 Madurans, 12 Buginese, 2 Hot 

tentots 
20 Germans, 12 Russians, 20 Javanese, 

5 Cossacks, 6 Malays of Sumatra 

2 Kaffirs 

5 Australians, 5 Ancient Romans 



87 
91 



92 



93 

94 



97 



There is nothing to be deduced from this ; it would however 
denote prognathism, according to M. Virchow. The angle which 
the naso-basilar line makes, not with the naso-alveolar line, as it 
should be, and as M. Yogt makes it, but with the naso-sub-nasal 
line terminating at the sub-nasal point where the preceding palatine 
line meets, has been studied by MM. Welcker and Virchow, under 
the name of naso-basal angle (K N E, Fig. 28.) 



following are some results : 




6 Turks... 1 


64-3 


8 French 


651 


9 Kalmucks 


65-8 


16 Chinese 


65-9 


30 Germans 


66-2 


11 Esquimaux 


66-7 


2 Hottentots 


67-5 


20 Negroes of Africa 


71-1 


5 Australians 


... 72-0 



This angle also professes to give the measurement of prognathism,- 
but it leaves out the sub-nasal portion of the maxilla, the most 
important in this respect, and only concerns itself with its superior 
or nasal portion. These figures are, in other respects, more eloquent 
than words. The Germans are certainly less prognathous than the 
Chinese, as one glance at a Chinese skull would show in a moment 



256 NASAL INDEX. [Chap. ii. 

The measurements wliicli tlie median facial triangle gives of 
Germans do not tend to anything of a decisive character, which 
appears to us owing to the unfortunate selection of one of its 
points, the sub-nasal. The true facial triangle ought to have its 
apex at the alveolar point, as M. Vogt desires it to have. In the 
next chapter we shall speak of another way in which M. Assezat 
has understood the facial triangle, and of the results which he has 
obtained. 

The straight or curved measurements belonging to particular 
regions of the face are more numerous than those of the cranium. 
There is but one organ in the latter, while there are many very 
distinct organs belonging to the face. Each bone, each cavity 
varies in its configuration, and furnishes certain elements by which 
to distinguish races. The measurements which have been most 
studied are those which give the nasal and the orbital indices. 

Tlie Nasal Index. 

The nasal index is the relation of the maximum breadth of the 
anterior orifice of the nose (G, Fig. 29) to its maximum length, 
taken from the nasal spine, F, to the naso-frontal suture, ]N". This 
character, in a certain point of view, is included in the category 
of those establishing a transition from Man to the ape, but more 
still among those the rationale of which has not as yet been 
explained. While the negroes of Oceania are for the most part 
inferior to the negroes of Africa, as regards this index they are 
their superiors. It substantiates what we stated, that the most 
rational characters in craniometry, as the facial angle, do not 
always lead us to form a real distinction between races ; while one 
which a ]priori would be looked upon as indifferent, may be of 
the utmost importance. It shows that qualities derived from the 
conformation of the organ characteristic of the zoological human 
groups, are sometimes surpassed by those deduced from peculiarities 
in the conformation of secondary parts. M. Broca has, in fact, 
discovered that the nasal index is one of the best for the purpose 
of distinguishing the various races of mankind, although he does 



Chap, ii.] 



ORBITAL INDEX. 



257 



not arrange them in a regular scale conformably to the exalted idea 
that we ourselves form of those races. The following extracts from 
his tables show this : 



16 Hottentots 


56-38 


8 Tasmanians 


56-92 


83 Negroes of Africa 


54-78 


28 „ Nubia 


55-17 


14 Australians 


53-39 


66 New Caledonians 


53-66 


29 Javanese 


51-47 


11 Lapps 


50-29 


41 Peruvians 


... 50-23 


26 Polynesians 


49-25 


11 Mongols 


48-68 


27 Chinese 


48-53 


122 Parisians (modern) 


46-81 


53 Basques (French) 


46-80 


33 „ (Spanish) 


44-71 


17 Guanches ... 


44-25 


14 Esquimaux ... .... 


42-33 



The individual figures in M. Broca's tables vary from 72*22 in a 
Bosjesman, to 35-71 in a Eussian. This interval is divided into 
three groups, the platyrrhinians, with the nasal skeleton wide, from 
53 to 58 ; the mesorrhinians, with the nasal skeleton moderate, 
from 48 to 52; and the leptorrhinians, with the nasal skeleton 
elongated, from 42 to 47. The black races are all in the first group ; 
the Mongols and Americans, with the exception of the Esquimaux, 
in the second ; and the white races in the third. 

The orbital index is the relation of the vertical diameter of the 
base of the orbit to its horizontal diameter ; the latter going from 
the dacryon to the opposite point of the great axis of this base, the 
former starting from the spot where the malo-maxillary suture meets 
the inferior orbital edge, and cutting perpendicularly the hori- 
zontal diameter. The two diameters are perceptibly equal at birth • 
the vertical then becomes gradually shorter ; but the true relation 
is not established until after puberty, the woman always retaining, 
however, a less short vertical diameter, and in this, as in many 
•other particulars, resembling the infant. Individual orbital indices 



258 OEBITAL INDEX. [Chap. ii. 

vary from 60*9 in a Tasiiianian, or from 61*3 in tlie old man of 
Cro-Magnon belonging to the Ancient Stone period, to 100 in a 
'New Caledonian, as recorded by M. Broca, 104 in a negress of the 
Sahara, and 107 in a Chinese. In these latter cases the ordinary 
condition is reversed ; the two diameters are equal, the orhit appears 
circular, especially when the angles are rounded off, or, if anything, 
the vertical is rather greater than the horizontal. Everyone knows 
the opposite conformation in the Cro-Magnon skull, the orbits being 
rectangular, with the angles almost right-angles, and the vertical 
diameter short. The averages of the series of course vary within 
narrower limits : from 90-0 to 77 '0 in white races, from 95 '4 to 
88*2 in the yellow races, and from 85*4 to 79-3 in the black 
races. M. Broca has created three general terms for all the 
craniometrical characters, bearing reference to this index, whose 
variations have not as yet received other specific designations ; 
namely, megaseme when the index is large ; mesoseme when it 
is moderate ; and microseme when it is small ; the limits of 
the corresponding groups varying according to each particular 
character.* In the present case the megasemes of the orbital 
index are 89 and above, the mesosemes from 89 to 83, and the 
microsomes 83 and under. Among the indications which the study 
of the orbital index gives, we may mention the following : It does 
not arrange the races in a graduated series, according to the 
opinions which may be formed of each ; and the form of the base of 
the orbit might be regarded as empirical, if, within certain limits, 
it did not apply to the general structural plan of the cranium and 
of the face. All the prehistoric races of Trance are microsemes, 
the height of the orbit increases when we come to the Gauls, but 
it is not until after the Merovingians that it assumes the present 
mesoseme type. The Guanches approach our prehistoric popula- 
tions by this character. The megaseme, on the other hand^ 
connects all the yellow races, or those derived from the yellow 
races, except the Esquimaux, who by this as well as by the nasal 
index, and by so many other points, are separated from them 

* Memoir of M. Broca, " Sur I'Indice Orbitaire," in the " Eevue d'Anthro- 
pologie," vol. iv., 1875. 



Chap, ii.] MEASUREMENTS OF THE CEBITS. 259 

completely, in spite of certain evident features of resemblance. 
JSTegroes are removed from the yellow races in this respect, especially 
the negroes of Oceania, which here favour the Australians, as if 
to repudiate all alliance with them. 
The following are some examples : 

27 Chinese 93-8 

30 Peruvians (not distorted) ... ... 93'1 

40 Polynesians 92-0 

43 Javanese ... ... ... ... ... ... 91'1 

26 North-American Indians 90-7 

17 Indo-Chinese 90-2 

87 Aiivergnians ... ... ... ... ... 86*5 

10 Kymris (.P) of Puiseux 86-2 

122 Contemporary Parisians ... ... ... ... 84*4 

11 Croats 84-3 

50 Basques (Spanish)... ... ... ... ... 83'9 

84 Negroes of Africa 85*4 

24 „ Kordofan 85-0 

16 Hottentots 83-6 

14 Caverne de 1' Homme Mort (Polished Stone 

period) 81-9 

5 Crenelle (Ancient Stone period) 81*2 

55 Merovingians of Chelles 81*2 

62 New Caledonians 80-6 

12 Dolmens of the North of France 80-5 

27 Australians 80*4 

8 Tasmanians ... ... ... ... ... 79*3 

11 Guanches 77*0 

Some other useful measurements are applied to the region of the 
orhits, such as {a) The relative superficies of the base of the orbits, 
which is obtained, as if it were a true rectangle, by multiplying 
the length by the breadth before mentioned ; (5) The capacity of 
the orbital cavity, studied by M. Mantegazza ; (c) The depth of 
the orbits, given by a line extending from the optic foramen to the 
inferior and external angle of the base of the orbits.- In its imme- 
diate vicinity are also taken {a) The external biorbital diameter, 
from the external lip of the fronto-malar suture on one side to that 
on the opposite (it is this which M Yirchow takes for the 

s 2 



260 MEASUEEMENTS OF THE SUPERIOR MAXILLA. [Chap. ii. 

inferior frontal) ; (b) The orbital interval, or from one dacryon to 
tlie other ; it is hroad in the most marked yellow races, rather 
so in the negro races, and narrow in Europeans; (c) The length 
and breadth of the bones proper of the nose, the narrowness of 
which is of such great importance in Esquimaux ; (d) The angle 
made by the two great axes of the orbits taken together. Under 
all circumstances it is very obtuse, and open below, but sometimes, 
as in the Chinese races, the two lines are raised so as to become 
horizontal. N'ever, as far as we know, does this go, in these races, 
so far as to produce an angle open above, as we should be led to 
suppose by the position of the palpebral apertures in the living 
subject. With regard to the malar bones, M. Broca is satisfied 
with two principal measurements : the bijugal and the bimalar 
diameter, each going from one point of the same name to the 
other. 

The Sujperioi' Maxilla. 

The superior maxilla plays a considerable part in the architec- 
ture of the face. The part which it takes in the irregular enlarge- 
ment of the face in Tasmanians, or in its increase in height in 
Esquimaux, demands consideration. In order to this we measure 
the height of the bone : (1) The maximum, from the point of its 
ascending process ; (2) The mean, from the inferior border of the 
orbit; (3) The minimum, from the nasal spine to the alveolar 
border in each case. Then we take the breadth : (1) The 
maximum, at the inferior part of the maxillo-malar suture; 

(2) The maximum, at the level and outside of the alveolar arch. 
We may ascertain the form of this arch by its inner side, and con- 
sequently that of the palate. It is presented to us under four 
aspects : (1) Hyperbolic, when the branches of the arch go or 
diverge in a backward direction; (2) Parabolic, when they still 
diverge, but somewhat less so, and in such a manner as, that if 
prolonged they would eventually return upon themselves and meet ; 

(3) In the form of the letter U when they are exactly parallel ; 
and (4) Elliptical, when they converge, whatever the degree of 
such convergence may be. The first two and noblest forms are 



7 men. 


8 women. 


34-2 


... 32-7 


33-4 


... 31-2 


20-2 


... 20-3 


47-0 


... 43-7 



Chap, ii.] MEASUREMENTS OF THE SUPERIOR MAXILLA. 261 

common in the white races ; the third and fourth are rare, and are 
especially seen in black races; the form of the letter U is that 
of anthropoid apes ; the elliptical is seen in the sagon and the 
macaque. The following is an example of the measurements 
which M. Broca makes use of to determine them ; they have 
reference to his celebrated series of troglodytes of La Lozere : 

Internal curve, width at I Behind 

the internal lip of the \ At the first molar 

alveolar arch ... ' ,, incisor 
Vault of the palate, total length 

Whence it follows that in this example the breadth at the 
posterior extremity of the arch is greater than at the level of the 
first molar, that this extremity goes on diverging, and consequently 
that the alveolar arch is hyperbolical. In fact it is rather the form 
of the vault of the palate which is thus measured, and it is to be 
noticed that the line of the teeth themselves does not always 
convey to the eye exactly the same impression. M. Broca again 
takes account of the relation of the maximum breadth of the vault 
of the palate to its maximum length, in making comparison of races. 
This is the palatine index. 

The dimensions common to the cranium and to the face will be 
found in the following chapters. Here we shall merely mention, 
among the right lines, the line of Yirchow, going from the root of 
the nose to the lambda ; a second, going from the root of the nose 
to the maximum occipital point; and a third, extolled by Morton, 
adopted by the Germans, and improperly called the alveolar line 
by M. Yogt, which extends from the alveolar point to the maximum 
occipital point. Compared together, these two diameters have 
been employed for the purpose of recognising prognathism, orthog- 
nathism, and opisthognathism. The alveolar line would be longer 
in the first case, equal in the second, and shorter in the third. 
This is a bad method. 



262 MEASUREMENTS OF THE INFERIOR MAXILLA. [Chap. ii. 



The Inferior Maxilla. 

The inferior maxilla is not generally studied as niucli as it 
deserves. The form of its alveolar arch is to be examined. Then 
the following principal measurements are to be taken : namely, the 
distance across from one angle to the other ; the distance obliquely 
from the same angle to the point of the chin; the height of the 
bone at the symphysis, and its height at the level of the coronoid 
process. Two angles are specially to be noticed : the angle of the 
jaw, properly so called, which varies according to age (p. 135) and 
race, and the angle which the symphysian line or profile makes with 
the plane of the inferior border of the body of the bone; this 
latter bears the name of the symphysian angle. The direction of 
the front teeth, whether vertical or oblique — this latter constituting 
inferior dental prognathism — and the projection or absence of the 
chin are to be noticed. This projection passes beyond the per- 
pendicular from three to five millimetres in European races. It is 
replaced in anthropoids by a recession backwards, amounting to 
one centimetre. In negro races the chin is still in front of the 
perpendicular, but from time to time there have been noticed, as 
upon some prehistoric jaws, examples w^hich exhibit all the inter- 
mediate gradations between Man and the anthropoid ape. In the 
example where this recession of the chin was the most marked, 
namely, on the ancient jaw of La JSTaulette, it reached three 
millimetres. It is here that the symphysian angle is measured, 
and which must be regarded as prognathism of the body of the 
lower jaw.* 

Before concluding this chapter, we shall reproduce a table pub- 
lished by M. Eroca in the " Instructions Craniologiques " of the 
Societe d'Anthropologie, which was prepared at the same time as 
the first edition of this volume, and of which we had previously 
made a resume, with the exception of Chapter I., On the Eecolte et 
Conservation des Cranes et Ossements, and Chapter VIII., On the 

* See "Les Caracteres Anatomiques de rHomme Prehistorique," by 
M. Broca, in " Mem. d'Anthrop.," vol. ii. p. 146. 



Chap, hi,] 



METHOD OF PROJECTIONS. 



Mise en CEuvre des Series. This table alone was omitted. It 
gives for each index, other than the cephalic and the nasal (1) The 
minimum mean and the maximum mean, that is to say the extreme 
means presented by the series in all the races measured by 
M. Broca ; (2) The extent of each of the three groups — the micro- 
semes, the mesosemes, and the m^gasemes (see p. 258), into which 
they are divided. The basilar index will be described in the next 
chapter. According to our custom, we shall omit a decimal. 
JSTomenclature of indices other than the cephalic and nasal : 



Indices. 


Means. Microsomes. 
Min. Max. 


M6sosfemes. 


Megasfemes. 


Yertical 


69 ... 78 to 71-9 .. 


72 to 74-9 . 


. 75 and beyond. 


Transverso-vertical 


86 ...104 „ 91-9 .. 


92 „ 97-8 . 


. 98 „ 


Frontal 


62 ... 73 „ 65-9 .. 


66 „ 68-9 . 


. 69 „ 


Stephanie 


79 ... 92 „ 82-9 .. 


83 „ 86-9 . 


. 87 „ 


Basilar 


46 ... 54 „ 48-9 .. 


49 „ 50-9 . 


• 51 „ 


Of tlie occipital f oramer 


I 77 ... 90 „ 81-9 .. 


82 „ 85-9 . 


. 86 „ 


Facial 


61 ... 73 „ 65-9 .. 


66 „ 68-9 . 


. 69 „ 


Orbital 


77 ... 95 „ 82-9 .. 


83 „ 88-9 . 


. 89 „ 


Palatine 


63 ... 84 „ 70-9 .. 


71 „ 76-9 . 


• V7 „ 



CHAPTER III. 

PROJECTIONS HORIZONTAL ALVEOLO-CONDYLEAN PLANE AURICULAR 

RADII PROGNATHISM CRANIOMETRICAL ANGLES OF JACQUART, 

DE QUATREFAGES, BROCA, WELCKER. 



Method of Projections. 

The method of projections is daily assuming greater importance. 
Under the name of projections, in geometry, is understood the 
representation on a plane of a figure situated without the plane, 
by means of the trace which is described by the intersections of 
all the straight lines which can be drawn from every point of the 



264 METHOD OF PEOJECTIONS. [Chap. hi. 

figure upon tlie plane of projection. The projection is orthogonal, 
or geometrical, when all these lines are parallel, and central when 
they converge towards one and the same point. The images which 
are delineated on the retina are central projections ; it is the same 
with photographs — in both, the objects are described according to 
the laws of perspective. Orthogonal projections are the only ones 
which give exact measurements applicable to craniometry. There 
are two ways of taking them : directly, on the skull, by various 
modes of proceeding ; and indirectly, on drawings. The latter is 
the more ancient, and apparently the more simple. It was in this 
way that Camper proceeded for his facial angle. When Blumen- 
bach fixed his eye at a certain distance above the vertex, according 
to the norma verticalis, the view which he obtained of the vault 
of the skull was a projection in the horizontal plane, but it was a 
central projection, consequently giving rise to an illusion. 

The figure of the skull may be projected on a screen in three 
different planes : the view from above and from below, in the 
horizontal plane; the view from before and from behind, in the 
transverse vertical ; and the profile view, in the antero-posterior 
vertical. "When on a drawing, or directly on the skull, we measure 
the projection which the alveolar arch makes with relation to the ♦ 
supra-orbital point, the two points are supposed to be in the same 
plane, which in this case is the horizontal. But, according as the 
head is more or less leaning forwards, the projection increases or 
diminishes. Hence the fundamental principle of the method of 
projections. The head ought always to be placed in one definite 
position, agreed upon by all anthropologists anxious that their 
results may be arranged and compared ; the slightest violation of 
the rule occasions the most serious errors. 

It is therefore absolutely necessary that all should be agreed as 
to this ne varietur position relatively to the three j)lanes u^^on 
which the skull may be placed. 

As to the antero-posterior median plane, provided that the skull 
does not incline either to the right or to the left, the orientation is 
easy. "We have only to take care that the two sides are symmetrical, 
and that the two zygomatic arches, for example, are mathematically 



Chap, iil] 



HOEIZONTAL PLANES. 



265 



at the same height. As to the transverse plane, provided the 
whole front of the face looks exactly forwards, it is equally easy. 
But with the horizontal plane, in order that neither the front nor 
the back of the skuU may he raised or depressed at the caprice of 
the observer, a rule must be made use of at the measuring points, 
a horizontal plane, or at least a horizontal line. Such indeed have 
been the matters which have occupied the attention of anthropo- 
logists from Camper to the present time. The task was undertaken 




Fig. 30.— a, Plane of the axis of the orbits ; C C, Alveolo-condylean plane ; B B, Anriculo- 
bregmatic line, determining the plane of Busk, which is perpendicular to it ; G L,, 
Glabello-lambdoidean plane of Hamy ; D D, Plane of mastication ; E E, Plane of 
Camper ; K K, Plane of Baer ; G M, Ordinary Maximum antero-posterior diameter ; 
P M, Antero-posterior diameter of Welcker. 

by a congress assembled in Germany, but with little success. The 
theory is that the skull rests, if it can be made to do so, absolutely 
in its natural attitude, as in the living subject. Some observers 
therefore have taken up a fixed vertico-transverse plane, the hori- 
zontal being necessarily perpendicular to it. Thus Charles Bell 
sought to represent the natural axis of the skull by a spindle which 
passed through the occipital foramen, was applied to the roof of 
the cavity beneath the vertex, and kept the skull in equilibrium by 



266 HORIZONTAL PLANES. [Chap. iii. 

a point. It is in this way that Mr. Busk takes the plane passing 
across the bregma and the auditory openings. Others have fixed 
their attention directly on the horizontal plane, being moved by 
physiological, artistic, or empirical considerations, or simply as a 
matter of convenience. In short, fifteen different planes have been 
suggested, namely : 

1. The planes of Bell and Busk above alluded to. 

2. Tlie plane of 'mastication, determined principally by tlie surface of the 
molars. 

3. The plane of Camper, from the centre of the auditory opening to the 
inferior nasal spin^. 

4. The palatine plane of Barclay, or the plane of the arch of the palate. 

5. The plane of Blumenbach, or plane of the table upon which the skull, 
without the lower jaw, takes its equilibrium. 

6. The plane of Baer, determined by the superior border of the zygomatic 
arch (adopted at the Grottingen Congress in 1861) . 

7. The plane of Meckel, given by a line drawn from the centre of the 
auditory canal to the inferior border of the orbit. 

8. The plane of Daubenton, passing across the opisthion and the inferior 
border of the orbits. 

9. The glahello-larnhdoidean plane, proposed by M. Hamy. 

10. The glahello-occipital plane, in which the antero-posterior diameter of 
the skull is situated. 

11. The plane of Rolle, determined by a line drawn from the centre of 
the auditory opening to the alveolar point. 

12. The naso-iniac plane, from the root of the nose to the inion. 

13. The plane of Aeby, passing across the root of the nose and the basion. 

14. The naso-opisthiac plane, from the root of the nose to the opisthion. 

15. The alveolo-condylean plane of M. Broca. 

The last alone starts from a physiological conception. The head 
is in its natural position when its two visual axes in the living 
subject, or its two orbital axes in the skeleton, are directed towards 
the horizon, a direction which is the result of Man's perfectly 
upright attitude. Tor this reason this plane deserves our favour- 
able consideration, but still more so because it has the three-fold 
advantage (1) Of being accessible, so that without any special 
contrivance a skull can rest or be readily suspended on the plane ; 
(2) Of being in the middle in the different races, and sensibly 
parallel to the plane of vision ; (3) Of exhibiting the minimum 



Chap, hi.] 



ALVEOLO.CO]!^DYLEAN PLANE. 



267- 



amount of oscillation which, can he ohtained. The alveolo-condylean 
plane is determined hy three jDoints : namely, the inferior surface of 
the two condyles of the occipital, and the median point of the 
alveolar arch, and does not bear comparison with any other for 
convenience. With respect to the two other advantages, they 
may be judged of by the following comparative table. The first 
column indicates the degree of elevation or depression of the 
plane relatively to the plane of vision, the second the maximum 
divergence in individual cases. The planes are arranged in the 
order of their importance, according as they more or less realise 
these two indications : 



Planes. 


Mean. 


Deviation 


Alveolo-condylean ... 


+ 0-88 


.. 12-65 


Hamv 


-f 0-97 


.. 23-65 


Busk ...• 


- 1-81 


.. 19-61 


Mastication 


+ 3-85 


.. 20-21 


Camper 


+ 4-68 


.. 19-68 


Barclay 


+ 5-18 


.. 23-09 


Blumenbacli 


,.. + 6-09 


.. 22-55 


Baer 


- 6-51 


.. 17-32 


Meckel 


- 7-96 


.. 17-49 


Glabello-occipital 


-12-96 


.. 20-81 


Daubenton 


-1511 


.. 16-59 


Eolle 


^15-81 


.. 18-52 


Naso-iniac 


-15-88 


.. 24-84 


Naso-opisthiac 


-25-76 


.. 17-89 


Aeby 


-31-26 


.. 16-38 



M. Broca is of opinion that, next to the alveolo-condylean plane, 
and in default of measuring points, as in skulls without the face or 
occipital foramen, the best are those of Hamy and Busk. 

The following table shows the maximum, the minimum, and the 
mean which the alveolo-condylean plane has presented when taken 
by itself, in three series subjected to examination :* 



12 Auvergnians... 
12 Mongols 
12 Negroes 



Maximum. 
+ 3-29 ... 
+ 8-63 .. 
+ 3-44 .. 



Minimum. 

- 3-44 .. 
0-00 .. 

- 4-02 .. 



Mean. 

- 0-90 
+ 3-65 

- 0-10 



* " Sur le Plan Horizontal de la Tete,' 
d'Anthrop.," 2nd series, vol. viii., 1873. 



by M. Paul Broca, in " Bull. Soc. 



CEANIOMETRICAL DRAWINGS. 



[Chap. hi. 



Before entrusting a skull to a draughtsman to delineate its 
contours geometrically with the aid of special instruments, or to 
set off its projections in a direct manner, the first thing is to place 
it in such a way that all the parts are symmetrical, and that it 
rests on the horizontal plane passing across the inferior surface of 
the occipital condyles and the inferior border of the alveolar arch. 
The drawings of Blumenbach and many others are almost valueless. 




Fig. 31.— Stereograpli of M. Broca. The skull is placed on the craniophore in the position 
shown in the drawing. The same support, if turned, serves for the -views in front 
and behind. A special s\ipport is substituted when we wish to have drawings 
according to the norma verticalis of the superior or inferior surface of the skull. 



owing to the want of this precaution. Those of Prichard are fre- 
quently in contradiction to his text, for the same reason. 

Among the instruments by the help of which drawings by pro- 
jection are obtained, some are only capable of giving the principal 
points, the operator completing the figure as well as he can. Such 
are the apparatus of Camper and Leach. Others require scarcely 



Ohap. hi.] PEOJECTIONS OF THE CKAXIUM. 269 

any skill on the part of the operator, as the diopter of Lucae, the 
dessinateur horizontal, the diagraph of Gavart, the craniograph 
and stereograph of Broca. The last three are to be preferred. 
The diagraph requires some amount of precision. In using the other 
two it is only necessary to have a light hand. The craniograph 
is very exact, but it only gives the outlines of the profile, and the 
situation of the auditory meatus. The stereograph represented by 
Fig. 31 gives, on the contrary, all the visible details, as well as some 
inaccessible to the eye, and is applied to each of the five surfaces 
of the skull which it is useful to rejDroduce. On the outlines 
which it delineates we measure the straight lines, curves, and angles 
to a millimetre, more readily than on the skull itself ; the curves 
alone require a special instrument — the roulette millimetrique. 
It is however recommended to take the projections, as much as 
possible, in a direct manner. The first which M. Broca was con- 
cerned with, were made upon the part situated behind the basion, 
or posterior cranium, and upon that in front of it. At that time 
he only made use of Blumenbach's plane. The head being placed 
on a small board graduated from before backwards and from behind 
forwards, commencing from a pin which passes through the occipital 
foramen, and is arrested at its anterior border, he placed a square 
on a level with the nucha on the one hand and the alveolar border 
on the other, and read off the two distances indicated. He then 
took the same two projections on the profiles, obtained with the 
craniograph, but taking care to let fall a perpendicular from the 
supra-orbital point upon the alveo-condylean plane or line pre- 
viously traced, which gives the projection separately from the 
whole of the face in front of this point, and consequently allows of 
its being cut off from the projection of the entire head, or of that 
portion in front of the basion. He thus had three projections: one 
posterior for the posterior cranium, a middle one for the anterior 
> cranium, and an anterior one for the face.* 

Each portion being then compared to the total projection of 

* " Sur les Projections de la Tete," by Paul Broca, in " Bull. Soc. 
•d'Antlirop.," vol. iii., 1862. 



270 AUEICULAE RADII. [Chap. in. 

the head = 1000, he obtained the following proportions (see 
Kg. 32): 

Europeans. Negroes. Difference in + or 
— in Negroes. 

Projections of tlie face 64*8 ... 137*5 +72*7 

„ „ anterior cranium 409-9 ... 381-0 - 48-9 

„ „ posterior „ 525-2 ... 501-3 - 23-8 

M. Broca concludes from this : (1) That the face of the negro 
occupies the greater portion of the total length of the head — which 
no one disputes ; (2) That his anterior cranium is less developed 
than his posterior, relatively to that of the white ; (3) That his 
occipital foramen is situated more backwards in relation to the total 
projection of the head, but more forwards in relation to the cranium 
only. The negro, in other words, has, cceteris j)ccribus, the cerebral 
cranium less developed than the white, but its posterior portion is 
more developed than the anterior. It comes, therefore, within the 
occipital races of Gratiolet, and the European in his frontal races. 
M. Broca has established, besides, a basilar index (p. 263) which is 
the relation of the projection of the part anterior to the basion to 
the projection of the entire skull. 

The auricular radii are only projections in the antero-posterior 
vertical plane of the skull ; their imaginary centre is situated in 
the middle of the line passing from one auditory meatus to the 
other. M. Broca sets them off upon his drawings, made either with 
the craniograph or the stereograph (see Tig. 32). 

In the following table each radius bears the name of the cranio- 
metrical point at which it meets on the median line.'^ 



Alveolar radius 

Nasal „ 

Supra-orbital „ 

Bregmatic ,, 

Lambdoidal ,, 

Iniac ,, 
Opisthiac 

* See an article, " Sur les Cranes Basques," in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 
1st series, vol. iv. p. 61, 1863. 



355 Parisians. 


Negroes 


. 99-0 ... 


113-7 


. 89-3 ... 


95-7 


. 98-3 ... 


103-0 


. 111-6 ... 


109-8 


. 104-6 ... 


101-2 


. 76-9 ... 


75-0 


. 42-3 ... 


42-6 



Chap, hi.] 



AUEICULAR EADII. 



271 



These radii may also "be taken in a direct manner with, the instru- 
ment of Mr. Barnard Davis, a sort of frame which turns round the 
skull, having for its centre two steel pins, which are inserted in the 
auditory meati. The authors of " Crania Britannica " made use of 
it more particularly to take the three maximum radii — the frontal, 
the parietal, and the occipital, whatever the point in each bone cm 

t 




Fig. 32. — Profile taken with. M. Broca's craniograph, O, Auricular point, or centre of the- 
auditory meatus ; O A, Auriculo-alveolar radius ; O B, Auriculo-supra-orbital radius ; 
o c, Auriculo-bregmatic radius ; O D, Auriculo-lambdoidean radius ; O E, Auriculo- 
iniac radius ; o F, Auriculo-opisthiac radius ; A S, Alveolo-condylean line, or plane, 
giving the total projection of the skull; B g, Perpendicular falling from the supra- 
orbital point, and detaching the facial portion {Ag); V ?•, Perpendicular passing- 
through the basion (I) and separating the cranial projection proper (s q) into two 
parts, one (rq) projection of the anterior cranium, the other (s r) the projection of 
the posterior ; B A, Ophryo-alveolar length of the face ; B q, Height of the face. 



which that maximum might be. By slightly modifying it we are 
able to take the three additional radii of Mr. Busk : namely, the nasal, 
at the nasal point ; the alveolar or maxillary ; and the bregmatic 
or vertical ; and consequently all those of M. Broca, as well as the 
three of M. Ecker, meeting at the glabella, at the vertex, and at the 
maximum occipital point. M. Ecker has an instrument of his own 
for taking projections, which possesses all the advantages of that of 



272 AUEICULAR RADII. [Chap. hi. 

Mr. Davis, and allows the skull to be more accurately fixed in posi- 
tion according to the plane which may he preferred. In Germany 
a preference is given to Baer's or Meckel's plane. M. Ecker thus 
measures the projection of the anterior cranium with relation to the 
auricular axis, and not, as we do, with relation to the basion. The 
following are some of the results obtained by Mr. Davis with regard 
to his three maximum auricular radii — the frontal, the parietal, and 
the occipital. We must not confound them with those of M. Broca, 
which go to particular points. All the subjects are males :, 

Parietal Occipital 
radius. radius. 





Frontal 




radius. 


21 English 


.. 119 


9 Fins 


.. 119 


17 Chinese 


. 116 


7 Esquimaux of Greenland , 


. 127 


50 Negroes 


. 118 


18 Australians ... 


. 108 


9 New Hebrideans ... 


. 116 



64 Kanakas (Sandwich Isles) . . . 124 



124 
122 
124 
128 
123 
116 
119 
127 



106 
101 
106 
107 
107 
101 
104 
104 



The applications of the method of projections are infinite, such as : 
{a) The height of the auditory meatus above thp alveolo-condylean 
plane, or, deducting the height of the condyles, the height above the 
basion ; (h) The projection of the superior border of the orbit with 
relation to its inferior border-^in front in many of the Melanesians, 
behind as a general rule ; (c) The vertical or more or less oblique 
direction of the forehead ; (d) The total height of the head as ob- 
served on the living subject, or only that portion above the mouth ; 
(e) The height of the cheek-bones and their projection, whether for- 
wards or outwards ; (/) The different kinds of prognathism ; (g) The 
height of the inion, &c., not including the ordinary horizontal pro- 
jections of the head, the face and the anterior and posterior cranium. 

Under all circumstances the process is the same, namely, that 
of the double square; the methods alone vary, and are done 
impromptu. Two squares, graduated in centimetres and milli- 
metres, are essential: the larger consists of two pieces, one of 
v>^hich is graduated ; the other, being heavy, rests in equilibrium on 
the table : the smaller is the common one. 



Chap, hi.] 



THE CEANIOPHOEE. 



273 



Suppose wc want to take the height of a point with relation to 
the alveolo-condylean plane. The skull being placed on this plane 
in its natural position, the larger square is put upright on the plane 
close to the point required. On its vertical portion, graduated so 
that zero corresponds to the alveolo-condylean plane, we slide at a 
right angle the second square, until the sloping side of its point 
touches the point in question. We have then only to read off the 
height required. But without moving, the same operation gives 




Fig. 33.— Topinard's Craniopliore. A, Pedestal; B, Shelf; C, Sliding piece and stee 
blade ; D, Small square. The other is the large square. The apparatus is in position 
for measuring the height of the supra-orbital point, and its horizontal projection 
behind the alveolar point. 



the horizontal projection of the same point with relation to any 
other spot that we desire at the periphery of the skull. The 
vertical portion being placed upright, for example, in contact with 
the alveolar border, the distance indicated on the smaller square 
from the supra-orbital point to this vertical portion, will be the 
horizontal projection of that point with relation to the alveolar 
point. 

Such is the object of the craniophore, of our own invention, and 
which is now in common use. It consists of two pieces — a pedestal 

T 



274 



THE GENERAL INDEX OP THE HEAD. [Chap. hi. 



and a shelf — the two, when adjusted, being exactly 10 centimetres 
in height ; the shelf sliding in a groove, so as to allow of its being 
lengthened and adapted for different-sized skulls, and at its 
extremity there is a steel blade, which is inserted between the 
incisor teeth at the alveolar point. The large square has its zero 
placed at the height of 10 centimetres, or rather it is graduated 
from the base for other purposes, but we reckon the zero at this 
height instead of ten. In this way, as seen in Fig. 33, the skull is 
isolated and placed in position, and the square may be readily 
applied at any part. 

We made use of this instrument first for the vertical"*^ projection 
of the entire head, or its maximum height, included between two 
horizontal and parallel planes, tangent, the one to the inferior 
border of the lower jaw with its teeth, and in place, the other to 
the top of the head. This projection is that which gives the im- 
pression to the traveller when, on looking a person in the face, he 
pronounces his head long or short. (The first column of the follow- 
ing table gives some examples of it.) But this impression is 
modified by the variable width of the face, of which he must take 
account. The advantage of it is the obtaining by projection the 
relation of the maximum height of the face to its maximum or 
bizygomatic breadth. We propose to call it Vindice generale de la 
tete osseuse : the second column expresses it. 



Total proj ection of the head. Its width = 100. 


7 Esquimaux 


198-8 


148-7 


9 Chinese 


196-2 . 


1481 


5 Arabs 


196-2 


153-6 


5 Kaffirs 


195-8 


1441 


40 Malays 


194-2 


142-9 


10 Negroes (various) 


190-7 


149-5 


13 Bretons (Low) 


190-0 


146-7 


8 Australians ... 


187-5 


148-0 


6 Alsatians 


I860 


134-6 


10 Hottentots 


182-3 


144-8 


3 Tasmanians 


182-0 


138-8 


3 Lapps 


177-0 


124-6 



■^"Presentation of a new craniophore, an instrument for taking all the 
cranial projections," by Paul Topinard, in "Bull. See. d'Anthrop.," 2nd 
series, vol. vii. p. 862, 1872. 



Chap, hi.] 



PEOJEOTION OF THE FOREHEAD. 



275 



This shows — (1) That Esquimaux, and the yellow races generally, 
have unquestionably the longest head ; Lapps, Tasmanians, and 
Hottentots the shortest. (2) That this length is greatest relatively 
to its bizygoniatic breadth in Arabs, and least again in Lapps. 
All the variations in the second column are readily understood. 
The Esquimaux have descended in the scale because their face 
grows wide, as in all the yellow races, disproportionately to the 
elongation of the head. The Arabs have ascended in the scale for 
the opposite reason, narrowness of the face being characteristic of 
the white races. In our opinion this absolute height of the head, 
the jaw included, whether relatively to its breadth or not, is a 
craniometrical character of the highest importance, and the more 




Fig. 34.— Example of the straight forehead, with high and projecting protuberances. 

useful in that it is one of the indications which travellers are most 
inclined to note. It is not however included in the scale in the 
series of races, and is only characteristic by itself. Thus travellers, 
when contrasting the Kafhr with the Hottentot race, speak of the 
former as having a long and the latter a short head. So Australians 
are distinguished from Tasmanians, the former being classed among 
long heads, the latter among short heads. 

Another purpose for which the craniophore is used, is to deter- 
mine the degree of inclination of the forehead, or rather the 
situation of the frontal protuberances which form its culminating 
point. When we put aside the breadth of the forehead measured 
by the two transverse diameters, the minimum and the Stephanie, 
and seek to take account of its vertical development on the median 

T 2 



276 PEOJECTION OF THE FOEEHEAD. [Chap. hi. 

line, we are sometimes struck with the difference which it presents 
in different races, which seem a 'priori at variance with prevailing 
notions. What is termed a fine forehead — that is to say, straight 
or projecting — seems to be met with frequently among the negro 
races of Africa. M. Broca's series of N"ubians, so negroid when Ave 
look at the skull, is specially remarkable for the projection of the 
frontal protuberances. In this region there are many craniometrical 
elements to be taken into consideration; but the principal one, 
after the breadth, is the position of the tubers in relation to the 
glabella, which is its most sloping and its most anterior point. 
Above it, the plane becomes vertical or oblique as far as the tubers, 
or bends round to reach the bregma, forming a more or less obtuse 
angle. When it approaches a right angle, we have the straight 
forehead ; and when the angle is very obtuse, we have the receding 
forehead. It is this height of the tubers above the glabella, and 
their position more or less behind it, which we have taken with 
the double square. Its results are given in the following table. 
The first column indicates the height of the tubers; the second, 
their horizontal distance behind the glabella ; the third, the relation 
of these two factors, the height being =100; the fourth, the same 
converted by trigonometrical calculation into an angle, the point 
of which is at the glabella, and which expresses the degree of 
obliquity of the forehead as far as the tubers relatively to the 
horizontal : 



Vertical 
projection. 
Mill. 
42 Auvergnians 56'4' 


Horizontal 
projection. 

Mill. 

14-2 .. 


Relation. 
Mill. 
25-2 .. 


Angle. 

. 75-07° 


20 Nubians 29-3 


7-7 .. 


. 26-3 .. 


. 75-27 


42 Negroes of Africa ... 30-7 . 


8-5 ... 


27-9 .. 


. 74-41 


28 Mongols and Chinese 30-6 


.. 13-8 


. 42-8 .. 


. 66-83 



Whence it f oIIoavs that the Auvergnians have the highest and most 
posterior frontal tubers, and the Nubians the lowest and most 
anterior. This circumstance accounts for the conformation of the 
forehead of the latter, which we should scarcely have expected. 
From the combination of these two elements, as regards the relation 
of the horizontal to the vertical projection, the result is that the 
frontal tubers are in a measure more conformable to the cerebral 



Chap, hi.] 



PEOGNATHISM. 



277 



organ which they protect in the European than in the negro, and 
especially the Asiatic. The Asiatic, it is true, gains in breadth 
what he loses in projection and in height, and is in consequence 
above the negro. Craniometry thus confirms the prevailing 
opinion that a well-developed forehead specially belongs to the 
white races and is a mark of beauty. 

Moreover, the angular measurement exhibits this conformation 
still more strongly, showing the deficient forehead of the Mongols 
and Chinese. The contrast would be still more striking if the 
Auvergnians, our term of comparison, did not possess an enormous 
glabella, owing to which the inferior extremity of the frontal line 
is brought forward, and the angular aperture is diminished to their 




Fio. 35.— Example of the receding forehead, with the bosses lov/ and almost obKterated. 

prejudice ; while in the yellow races, the glabella being almost 
obliterated, it is increased to their advantage. 

The measurement of prognathism is another purpose to which 
the craniophore is applied. 

Prognatliism. 

Prognathism has always since the time of Prichard been under- 
stood to mean the elongation and prominence, or obliquity, 
of the jaws, common in the black races of Africa and Oceania, 
accidental in some Europeans. It is in profile that we at once 
recognise it, whether in the living subject or on the skull. An 
imaginary perpendicular is let fall from the root or anterior spine 



278 MEASUEEMENT OP PEOGNATHISM. [Chap. hi. 

of the nose, and according as the portion in front is more or less 
considerahle, so we say the subject is, or is not, prognathous. 
ISTothing is more simple, and yet we meet with the term among 
authors in various acceptations. Some speak of the prognathism 
of the face, others of that of the jaAYs; others go so far as to 
exclude all that portion of the face below the nares, taking in only 
that part of the maxilla between the root of the nose and the 
inferior nasal spine. Two expressions intended to be in opposition 
to that of prognathism have tended to complicate the question. 
Oblique teeth, they say, are prognathous ; teeth in an upright 
position, orthognathous. So far so good ; but the word has been 
transferred to the face, in which the profile line is never straight. 
The word " opisthognathous," which has been applied to those cases 
in which the line is inclined backwards, is still more objectionable. 
The various methods or processes which have been employed for 
measuring prognathism will enable us to form an idea of the dif- 
ference of opinion which has prevailed on the subject. We shall 
only mention the principal ones. 

1. The facial angle of Camper. It measures, indeed, the degree of elon- 
gation of the face, but not very accurately. The angles of Cloquet, Geoffroy 
Saint-Hilaire, and Cnvier are preferable in this respect. The angle of 
Jacquart does not express it at all. 

2. The naso-basal angle of Welcker (see page 255). 

3. The same angle modified by M. Vogt, by its anterior side being pro- 
longed as far as the alveolar point. 

4. The palatine and vomerian angles of Vogt. 

5. The relation of two lines proceeding from the basion, the one to the 
nasal the other to the sub-nasal point. This is M. Yirchow's latest method 
(see page 255). * 

6. The relation of two lines extending from the maximum occipital 
point, one to the glabella the other to the alveolar point. This is the old 
German method. 

7. The relation of the facial radii of Mr. Busk, proceeding from the 
auditory meatus, or even of the auricular radii of M. Broca. 

8. The method employed by M. Broca for taking the projection of the 
face, and which is also applied to each of its parts (see page 271) . 

9. The method of Lucas. In his drawing he lets fall a perpendicular 
from the naso-frontal suture on the horizontal line, slightly modified, of the 
Germans (passing straight through the imaginary axis of the zygomatic 
arch), and on this perpendicular, ordinates proceeding from the sub-nasal 
point, alveolar point, &c. The last two alone go directly to the mark ; they 



Chap. III.] KINDS OF PEOGNATHISM. 279 

rest on the same principle — the necessity, in order to get at prognathism, of 
placing the head in its natural position, as it is in the living subject ; they 
only differ as regards the horizontal plane. The table, page 267, will show 
which is to be preferred. 

10. The last is our own method. It differs from that of M. Broca only 
from the fact that it is applied directly to the skull, and takes account of 
the variations of the height of the face. It was by M. Broca's advice that 
we made use of it as regards this latter. The same horizontal projection 
will be weak in a high skull, and very considerable in a low one. 

The following are the various kinds of prognathism which may 

he admitted : 

/■ In its entirety. 

Superior facial ) Superior maxillary. 

I Alveolo-sub-nasal. 
^ Superior dental. 

Inferior facial j Inferior dental. 

( ,, maxillary. 

The teeth, being independent organs^ should he excluded. Whether 
upright or oblique in both jaws, or only in the upper, which is the 
rule, their arrangement is generally conformable to that of their 
sockets. Their special prognathism, if it really exists, has yet to 
form a subject for investigation. Of the prognathism of the body 
of the lower jaw we have already spoken. It remains for us to 
refer to the three other kinds. 

Each corresponds to the inclination, on the alveolo-condylean 
plane, of a line extending from the alveolar point to one of the 
special points of the face, the sub-nasal, the nasal, or the sub-orbital. 
These lines represent the diagonal of a quadrilateral figure, the 
equal sides of which are the height or vertical projection of the 
region, and its antero-posterior length or horizontal projection. 
The relation of t'he latter to the former expresses this diagonal, 
or the projection of the region. It is thus that, in 1872, we spoke 
of the index of such or such prognathism ; but, acting upon 
M. Broca's advice, we have since thought that it ought to be 
converted by the trigonometrical method into an angle at the 
alveolar point, which has the advantage of exhibiting in a direct 
manner the angle of inclination of the profile lines on the hori- 
zontal plane. Let us take an example of sub-nasal prognathism. 
The skull is that of a I^amaquan in the Museum, and is the most 



THE ELEMENTS OF PROGNATHISM. [Chap. iii. 



prognathous known. The height of the nasal spine or suh-nasal 
point above the horizontal plane is 20 millimetres j the horizonta 
projection from the same point to the perpendicular line in contact 
with the alveolar border is 16 millimetres. The relation then of 
the latter to the former, or index, is 80, and the angle at the alveolar 
point according to the calculation, 51*35°. 



PrognatMsm. 



Extreme individual variations 

! White races.. 
Yellow „ 
Black „ .. 
14 Guanches 
350 Pai-isians 
76 Auvergnians 

9 Esquimaux ... 
58 Negroes of West Africa 
58 New Caledoniaug ... 
7 Bosjesmans and Namaquans 



Facial. 
89-5° to 63-9° 
83-0 „ 77-0 
79-8 „ 74-3 

79-7 ,; 74-3 
80-48° 
79-00 
78-21 
76-71 
76-15 
75-48 
74-11 



Maxillary. 
87-1° to 62-5° 
81-5 „ 75-2 
77-0 „ 74-3 
77-2 „ 69-0 

79-80° 

78-13 

77-00 

75-31 

73 32 

72-15 

69-00 



The first table has reference to prognathism of the face (u.pper) 
in its entirety, and to prognathism of the maxilla, also in its 
entirety. The extreme variations observed in about 1500 skulls, 
the limit of the averages in about 60 of all races, and some 
examples of these averages, have been recorded. We refer the 
reader to our treatise for a separate description of prognathism of the 
nasal region, of which M. Virchow has made measurements, though 
it possesses but little interest."^ 

The results have not answered our expectations respecting these 
two kinds of prognathism. Anthropologists have been wrong, up 
to the present time, in giving so much importance to the projection 
of the whole maxilla, or of the whole face. Craniometry proves 
that the imaginative method was an erroneous one. The variations 
are frequently determined by anatomical considerations foreign to 
the character sought for. There is no fixedness of result in one and 
the same series, and most flagrant contradictions are met with be- 
tween averages in contiguous races. There is, however, a certain 

* "Des Diverges Especes de Prognatliisme," by Paul Topinard, in "Eevue 
d'Anthrop.," vols. i. and ii., 1872 and 1873. 



Chap. III.] TRUE PROGNATHISM. 281 

conformity with, usually-received notions in the general distribution 
of their angles, which arises from the part which the particular 
prognathism of the sub-nasal region bears in the general prognathism 
of the face or of the maxilla. Prognathism of the face is to be 
altogether discarded as an important character. That of the 
maxilla, as a whole, occasionally gives us some information. 

True Prognathism. 

We must consider alveolo-sub-nasal prognathism in an entirely 
different way, affecting as it does both the portion of the maxilla 
subjacent to the nasal spine which corresponds to the palatine arch, 
and that next to it in which the alveoli are situated. It is to it 
that the term prognathism should be strictly confined. It is to this 
sub-nasal region that we must look when endeavouring to find out 
the source whence a skull has been derived. It furnishes of 
itself the differential character of the various races of mankind. 
Subjoined are examples of this. 

TEUB OR SUB-NASAL PROGNATHISM. 

Individual variations, maximuni and mininiiini . . . 89° to 51 "3° 
(White races 82 ,,76-5 

Average variations j Yellow „ ... ... ... 76 ,, 68"5 

'Black „ 69 „ 59-5 

14 Guanches 81-34° 

15 Corsicans 81*28 

22 Gauls 80-87 

14 Caverne de rHomme Mort ... ... 79-77 

350 Parisians 78-13 

10 Toulousians 78-50 

76 Auvergnians ... ... ... ... 77'18 

42 Merovingians ... ... ... ... 76-54 

7 Fins and Esthonians ... ... ... 75-53 

6 Tasmanians 76-28 

10 Tahitians 75-00 

14 Chinese 72-00 

10 Esquimaux 71-46 

45 Malays 69-49 

56 New Caledonians 69-87 

11 Australians ... ... ... ... ... 68-24 

52 Negroes of West Africa 66-91 

7 Namaquans and Bosjesmans ... ... 59-58 



282 TEUE PEOGNATHISM. [Chap. hi. 

We gather from this — (a) That the angle of prognathism never 
reaches a right angle ; the sub-nasal line is always more or less 
inclined on the natural plane of the base of the skull, consequently 
neither orthognathism nor opisthognathism has any existence. 
(b) All races, all individuals are prognathous, the difference be- 
tween them being only in degree, (c) The races of Europe are 
slightly so, the yellow races and Polynesians much more so, the 
negro races more still, (d) The least prognathous of Europe are 
the inhabitants of the Polished Stone period — the Gauls, Corsicans, 
and Guanches; the most prognathous, the Einno-Esthonians. 
(e) At the Merovingian period prognathism increased among the 
higher classes, and diminished subsequently. (/) Among the yellow 
races, prognathism appears to be less in the Mongols of the "West ; it 
increases in the Chinese and Esquimaux, and attains its maximum 
in Malays, (g) The Polynesians of purest blood, and (we hardly 
venture to say) the Tasmanians which we have measured come 
nearer to the white races in this respect than the yellow races of the 
East, or the negro races of Africa, (h) The negroes of the east 
coast of Africa are less prognathous than those of the west ; the 
negroes of Oceania less than the negroes of Africa : the purest 
Hottentots reach the highest maximum of the whole human race. 

Setting aside the Einno-Esthonians and some Mongols of the 
East, the difference between the white and yellow races is very 
great ; there is an insensible transition^ on the contrary, from the 
latter to negroes. Taking the word in its ordinary sense, we may 
say that the white races are never prognathous, and that the yellow 
and black races are so in various degrees. In all the races, how- 
ever, there are exceptions. There are negroes as little prognathous 
as whites, as shown in a Bambarra skull, and whites excessively 
prognathous, as seen in the skull of Lemaire the assassin ; but in 
our opinion these are cases of atavism or of hybridity, and some- 
times cases of disease. In fine, alveolo-sub-nasal prognathism is 
one of the best craniological characteristics. Before concluding our 
remarks on projections, we would say a word respecting the re- 
searches of M. Assezat on the general proportions of the face. He has 
studied — (a) The relation of its height, or rather of a perpendicular 



Chap. III.] CEANIOMETEICAL ANGLES. 283 

let fall from the nasal spine, or root of the nose, on the alveolo- 
condylean plane — its maximum or bizygomatic breadth, (b) The 
area of the median and anterior triangle included between the nasal 
point, the alveolar point, and the point where the basion is projected 
on the alveolo-condylean plane. The facial height which we 
adopt varies, in the first place, as to its absolute measurements, 
from 77 millimetres in Esquimaux to 61 in Tasmanians, which 
justifies the impression which the skull of each of these^'gives. The 
same height, compared to its maximum breadth satisfactorily shows 
that Basques have the longest face, and Lapps the shortest. But 
in every question of this kind there are two factors, and it is well 
to observe that in Basques the diminution of the transverse 
diameter plays the principal part. (See p. 253.) The study of 
the area of the triangle is equally instructive : there is no need of 
explanation, the figures speak for themselves. In Esquimaux the 
surface is 28 per cent, larger than in Lapps^ which is an additional 
characteristic to those which already separate these two races 
formerly included under one and the same name. In Auvergnians 
it is 15 per cent, larger than in Merovingians, and 11 per cent, 
more than in Basques; which tends to distinguish our ancient 
Celtic race fvom the other indigenous races of France. 

Craniometrical Angles. 

Craniometrical angles are obtained in the same way as pro- 
jections, in two ways ; either directly with the assistance of par- 
ticular instruments, or on geometrical drawings by means of the 
protractor. There is a tliird, which is indirect — the trigonometrical 
method, of which M. Broca has given formulae for certain cases : as 
the biorbital angle, the parietal angle of M. de Quatrefages, the angle 
of prognathism of which we have just spoken, the angle which is 
formed by the prolongation of the two sides of the superior cranial 
trapezium of M. Welcker, which unite the parietal to the frontal 
eminences."^ The angle of Daubenton, having its point at the opis- 

* " Sur le Plan Horizontal de la Tete, et sur la Methode Trigonometrique," 
by Paiil Broca. Paris, 1873. 



284 ANGLE OF DAUBENTOK [Chap. in. 

tliion, and for its sides the plane of the prolonged occipital foramen, 
and the line going from the opisthion to the level of the inferior 
orbital border, is the most ancient known. It has been described at 
page 53, as well as the two other occipital angles, the one to the 
opisthion and the other to the basion, which M. Broca has added 
to it.' All three are taken almost at one operation, with the 
occipital goniometer, with the arc in the position as represented in 
Fig. 6. 

The centre of the dial being fixed at the opisthion by a little 
pin, the index-needle is applied first on the anterior measuring 
point {ijoint de repere) of the line of Daubenton, and then on 
that of the line which M. Broca prefers — viz. the nasal point. 
Two angles are thus indicated which can be read oif. The centre 
being then carried forward upon the basion, and the needle placed 
at the nasal point, we get the third or basilar angle. 

In the generality of cases, the angle of Daubenton is positive 
( + ) ; that is to say the prolongation of the occipital foramen ends 
at the face above the line which unites the inferior border of the 
two orbits. More rarely it is negative ( - ), which Daubenton had 
not noticed; that is to say the prolongation of the foramen ends 
above tjte inferior border of the orbits. The second occipital angle 
of Broca is always positive ; once only has the basilar angle been 
found negative. 

The variations observed in the races of Mankind with regard to 
the angle of Daubenton are from - 16 degrees in an Auvergnian to 
+ 19 in a Hottentot; but M. Broca has found that in the majority 
of cases above - 12 degrees, the skull was affected with the plastic 
deformation described by Mr. B. Davis, and he thinks that this 
+ 19 is a mistake of from one to two degrees, so that the physiolo- 
gical deviation between the extremes of this angle should be about 
29 degrees. The - 3 which Daubenton attributed to Man in 
general is far from being settled. These variations are due to the 
influence of race, and average from -1*50° in Auvergnians to 
+ 9*34° in Nubians. 

In M. Broca's table all the races of Europe are grouped at the 
top from -1-52° to +2*05°, while the last three races at the 



Chap, hi.] 



BASILAE ANGLE OF BROCA. 



285 



bottom from +7 '88° to +9*34° are negroes. Whence tlie con- 
clusion that the lowering of the plane of the occipital foramen, 
which increases the angle of Dauhenton, constitutes a mark of 
inferiority ; and this conclusion is confirmed by the angle of 
+ 11 '37" obtained in four microcephali, and these still stronger 
than any we have described in the mammahan series. (See page 
55.) Some races, as that of the Tasmanians, are far removed from 
this reckoning ; but in other respects have we not already seen this 
singular race separated from the negro group in which, from their 
woolly hair and black skin, they had been included '? In reference" 
to the angle of Daiibenton, the conclusion we have come to is this : 
that the character which it expresses, in spite of its value, is out of 
the series. Like the form of the head, the orbital index, or the 
facial angle, it has no regular gradation, and is rather favourable to 
the monogenistic theory. The dimensions of the occipital and 
basilar angles of Broca similarly vary. The averages of the occi- 
pital are from +10*33° in Auvergnians to -20*12° in Nubians; 
and of the basiliar from +14*36° in Slavs of Austria to —26*32° 
in Nubians also ; the minimum and maximum individual dimen- 
sions of the basilar being from - 2 in an Auvergnian to + 37 in a 
West African. In order not to be tediously prohx, we shall con- 
fine ourselves to some examples of the angle of Daubenton and of 
the basilar anoie of Broca. 





Angle of 


Basilar 




Daiibenton. 


angle. 


60 Basques (Spanisli) 


.. - 


1-52° . 


. 15-29° 


88 Auvergnians 


.. - 


1*50 . 


. 14-72 


62 Bretons (Low) 


.. - 


0-80 . 


. 16*02 


124 Parisians of the 19tli century 


.. - 


0*17 .. 


. 17*39 


114 „ „ 12th „ 


.. + 


1-46 . 


. 17*59 


6 Tasmanians 


.. + 


2-58 .. 


. 16-43 


11 Mongols 


.. + 


2-72 . 


. 20-0» 


29 Chinese 


.. + 


5-86 .. 


. 24-51 


14 Esquimaux 


.. + 


8-63 . 


. 24-42 


13 Hottentots 


.. + 


6*54 .. 


. 21-57 


9 Australians 


.. + 


6-87 .. 


. 21*42 


51 New Caledonians 


.. + 


7*88 .. 


. 23-58 


44 Negroes (Western) 


.. + 


8*47 .. 


. 25*97 


22 Nubians 


.. + 


9-34 .. 


. 26*32. 



286 



FACIAL ANGLE OF JACQUART. 



[Chap. hi. 



The facial angle liad its origin subsequently to that of Daiibenton. 
We have seen (page 41 and Fig. 4) that there are four varieties of 
it : (1) The original angle of Camper, the vertex of which varies, is 
often vertical, and always on the prolonged horizontal line of 
Camper ; (2) The angle of Jacquart^ the vertex of which is at the 
nasal spine ; (3) The angle of Cloquet, the vertex of which is at the 
alveolar border ; and (4) The angle of GeofFroy Saint-Hilaire and 
Cuvier, the vertex of which is at the centre of the incisors. We 
have shown that all have for their posterior point the auditory 
meatus, or rather a virtual point in the middle of the biauricular 
line, and for the superior the culminant point of the forehead, 
which is almost always the glabella, or the place of convergence of 
the two superciliary arches. We may remark that this latter point 
is a bad one, and that the bulgings of the glabella and of the 
arches occasioned by the development of the frontal sinuses are to 
be avoided. Eor the comparison of Man with animals we prefer 
the angle of Cloquet, modified according to circumstances. Eor 
the comparison of the human races we are of the same opinion, 
but measurements of them to any extent have not yet been 
made. 

The following table, extracted from N'o. 1 1 in our treatise upon the 
facial angles, has reference to the angle of Jacquart taken in two 
ways only : the ordinary one at the glabella ; the other higher up, 
generally at the supra-orbital point, in order to avoid the glabella 
or superciliary projection. M. Broca calls the latter angle the 
ophryo-spinal. 

FACIAL ANGLE OF JACQUART. 



Men. 


Glabella. Sup. -orb. point. 


Difference. 


3 Auvergnians... 


. 81-25° 


.. 75-11° . 


. 6-14° 


28 Bretons (Low) 


. 78-43 


.. 76-81 . 


. 1-62 


36 Gallo-Bretons 


. '77-12 


.. 74-42 . 


. 2-70 


29 Basques (Frencli) . 


. 78-24 


.. 75-41 . 


. 2-83 


42 „ (Spanish) . 


. 77-36 


.. 75-18 . 


. 2-18 


13 Esquimaux ... 


. 76-32 


.. 74-43 . 


. 1-89 


28 Chinese 


. 75-94 


.. 72-37 . 


. 3-47 


35 Malays 


. 75-64 


.. 74-12 . 


. 1-52 


136 Negroes of Africa . 


. 75-03 


.. 74-81 . 


. 0-22 


69 New Caledonians . 


. 74-73 


.. 72-39 . 


. 2-34 



Chap, hi.] FACIAL ANGLES. i87 



.] FACIAL ANGLES. 






FACIAL ANGLE OP J 


^CQU 


ART. 




Women. 


Glabella. 


Sup 


-orb. point. 


Difference. 


38 Auvergnians . . . 


.. 78-00° 




76-02° . 


. 1-98° 


25 Bretons (Low) 


.. 74-56 




75-52 . 


. 1-04 


23 Gallo-Bretons 


.. 76-08 




75-51 . 


. 0-57 


19 Basques (FrencL.) . 


.. 76-35 




74-94 . 


. 1-44 


17 „ (Spanish) . 


.. 77-89 




76-84 . 


. 1-05 


4 Chinese 


.. 73-66 




72-36 . 


. 1-30 


5 Malays 


. 74-34 




73-96 . 


. 0-38 


52 Negresses of Africa 


75-73 




75-08 .. 


. 0-65 


23 New Caledonians 


.. 75-29 




74-21 .. 


. 1-08 



The individual limits of the first angle vary in these series from 
87-2° to 66-2°, which leaves a certain margin for the distribution of 
races; but their averages are not more than from 79-5 in the 
Auvergnians of both sexes to 74*4 in a special series of negroes of 
Cape de Verd. Looking only at the two great divisions, the general 
averages fall to 77-6 in the 587 individuals of the Avhite race, 75*6 
in the 140 of the yellow, 75-2 in the 118 of the negro race of 
Oceania, and 75-0 in the 90 of the negro races of Africa — the dif- 
ference in this case not being more than two degrees. If we take 
the second angle — that is to say making allowance for the pro- 
jection of the glabella or the superciliary ridges — the interval is not 
more favourable. In the averages of the series it was nine degrees 
in men and 4-3° in women; at the present time it is 2*7° in the 
former and 2*4° in the latter. Whence we come to the conclusion 
that the true angle of Jacquart, as well as his modified angle, may 
be useful for the differentiation of individuals, iDut they are not so 
for that of races. The facial angles, moreover, do not measure the 
relation of the development of the cranium and face, as was once 
thought, but the obliquity of the line of profile of the face ; we 
must then prolong this line as far as the alveolar border, and not 
conclude it at the nasal spine. We must consequently await the 
results which the angle of Cloquet gives according to race. The 
angle of Jacquart is taken directly with the goniometer of that 
name, that of Camper with the goniometer of Morton, and that of 
Jules Cloquet with the median goniometer of M. Broca; all on 
plans by orthogonal projection. 



25o.r PAEIETAL ANGLE. [Chap, iii. 

The parietal angle, whicli will now engage our attention,* was 
devised by M. de Quatrefages with a view to controvert two state- 
ments of Blumenbach and Prichard, and is taken with the instru- 
ment represented at Fig. 36. When we carry two lines (S Z, 
rig. 29) across the extremities of the transverse maximum, or 
bizygomatic diameter of the face, and the extremities of the maxi- 
mum transverse frontal diameter, which in that case is commonly 
looked upon as identical with the transverse Stephanie, these lines 
generally meet either at a variable point at a distance above the 
head, are parallel, or meet at a point below. In the first case the 
angle is positive : this is the pyramidal angle of Prichard ; in the 
second there is none; in the third the angle is negative. When 
the angle is positive, the zygomatic arches are called phenozygous — ■ 
that is to say, visible by the norma verticalis method of Blumen- 
bach ; when negative, the arches are cryptozygous, or concealed. 

The following table shows the maximum and minimum, and tlie 
means in some of the human series. 





Averages. 


Variations. 


26 Auvergnians 


... + 2-5° .. 


- 


5° 


to + 8° 


10 Eoumaniaiis 


... + 8-0 .. 


- 


0-5 


„ + 18 


10 Guanches 


... + 10-4 .. 


. + 


5 


„ + 17 


10 Lapps 


... + 5-5 .. 


. - 


3 


„ + 15 


13 Esquimaux 


... + 15-7 .. 


+ 


4 


„ + 23-5 


12 Chinese ... 


... + 11-2 .. 


+ 


4 


„ + 19 


10 Mongols 


... + 10-1 .. 


-f 


5 


„ + 17 


6 Usbecks 


... + 8-0 .. 


- 


6 


» + 18 


4 Tehuelchas 


... + 11-6 .. 


+ 


6 


„ + 16 


10 Negroes of Africa 


... + I'O .. 


4- 


2 


„ + 1.3 


13 New Caledonians 


... + 20-3 .. 


+ 


16 


„ + 30 



From these data it follows — (a) That the individual limits of the 
parietal angle vary from — 5 to + 30, and the means in races the 
most divergent from +2*5 to +20-3; {h) That the angles from 
35 to 39 degrees, represented in the figures which accompany 
Prichard's description, and which led him to give the title of 
pyramidal to the Mongolian skull, are never seen; (c) That the 

* " De I'Angle Parietal," by M. de Quatrefages ; " Comptes Kendus de 
TAcademie des Sciences," meeting of April 25, 1858. 



Chap, hi.] PARIETAL GONIOMETEE. 289 

most oval skull, to use his own expression, that in Avhich the 
zygomatic arches are the most visible by the method of Blumen- 
bach, is met with among the negroes of Oceania, and not among 
Mongols j {d) That inversely, the most negative angle — viz. that in 
Avhich the zygomatic arches are the least projecting — is noticed 
among Auvergnians, Lapps, and African negroes. 




Fig. 36.— Parietal goniometer of M. de Quatrefages. The branches A and B ought to 
touch the coronal suture. They show, notwithstanding, that if prolonged they would 
meet below the skull — the angle would be negative. 

This angle is the resultant of two frequently contradictory con- 
ditions; viz. the widening of the cheek-bones, and the degree of 
swelling of the temples at the fronto-parietal suture. In default 
of an instrument, the relation of the two diameters, the bizygo- 
matic and the bistephanic, might be substituted for it. Thus the 

u 



290 



PAEIETAL ANGLE. 



[Chap. hi. 



Auvergnians liave scarcely any parietal angle, and occasionally a 
negative one, because tlieir bracliycephalic character is associated 
with a feeble widening of the cheek-bones and zygomatic arches. 
The ]!^ew Caledonians, on the contrary, have a very acnte angle, 
because in them a considerable dolichocephalism is accompanied by 
a Avide separation of the cheek-bones. If the true Mongols and 
Usbecks have a less angle than the Esquimaux, the breadth of the 
cheek-bones being the same, it is because the former are brachy- 
cephalic and the latter dolichocephalic. Another thing we deduce 
from this table is, that the angle in the adult is always, with but 
few exceptions, jpositive. In the child, on the contrary, it is con- 
stantly negative ; the younger it is, the more so. The following 
figures show this : 



2 cMldren 


of 15 to 16 years of age 


- 7-0= 


3 


„ 6 „S „ 


- 15-8 


2 


„ 3 „ 4 „ 


- 15-0 


4 


„ 16 „ 18 months old 


- 21-7 


1 child 


4 


- 24-0 



Erom other examples, and even from one of those which have 
swelled the second of these averages, we are led to think that the 
parietal angle would afford a means of recognising anterior hydro- 
cephalus. The usual mean at a certain age being given, any 
considerable deviation from it would be its index. 

It has surprised us to see pathological cases in which, while the 
zygomatic arches still preserved their normal breadth, the anterior 
cranium Avas prominent or depressed. It will be noticed in the 
subjoined table that the variations are similar to those which 
age and the form of the head ought to produce according to the 
foregoing opinions. We have also given some measurements taken 
upon anthropoid apes ; here again the principle with regard to age 
is confirmed in the case of the yoimg orang. 



4 hydrocephali, adults 


... - 31-9° 


2 microcephali, „ 


... + 38-0 


2 „ „ (brachycephalic) ... 


... + 21-0 


1 microcephalus, 7 years of age 


... - 2-0 


2 scaphocephali 


... + 130 



Chap. III.] AURICULAR ANGLES. 291 

1 young orang ... ... ... ... ... + 17'0 

1 adult orang ... ... ... ... ... + 90'5 

.4 „ gorillas + 77*0 

1 „ cliimpanzee + 63*0 

In a word, the parietal angle of M. de Qiiatrefages aifords an excel- 
lent eliaracter for craniometrical study, but it lias no part in the 
series, and contradicts the vicAYS put forth by Blumenbach and 
Prichard. The auricular angles, of which we have already spoken 
(page 271), having their vertex on the biauricular vertex, and crossed 
by the radii going from this axis to particular points of the head, 
as taken with the craniograph, have given rise to the following 
arrangement of M. Broca : 

Facial angle : arc passing from tlie supra- 
orbital to the alveolar point 

Frontal angle : arc passing from the 
supra-oi'bital point to the bregma 

Parietal angle 

Total occipital angle 

Frontal angle in hundredths of the total 
cranial angle : the arc from the supra- 
orbital point to the opisthion 

This comparison shows the share of development whicli each 
portion of the head takes. We see that the frontal region is larger 
in the Parisians than in the Basques, and less in the negroes. It 
appears a priori that the face of Parisians is larger, but it must 
be remembered that the face in the negro is developed in length, 
which, instead of increasing, diminishes the angle.* 

The angle of prognathism has been already described. There are 
besides : {«) The metafacial angle of Serres, which the pterygoid 
processes form with the base of the skuU. It seems to us to vary 
with the prognathism, but not very much. (6) The corono-facial 
angle of Gratiolet, formed by the meeting of the plane passing 
across the coronal suture of both sides and the facial line of 
Camper, (c) The naso-basal angle, described at page 255. {d) The 

* "Sur les Cranes Basques de Zaraus," in "Mem. d'Anthrop./' by Pau 
Broca, vol. ii. p. 28. 

U 2 



335 
Frisians. 


60 
Basques. 


34 
Negroes. 


51-5° . 


.. 49-6° .. 


,. 46-2° 


56-4 . 


.. 54-2 ., 


,. 541 


60-9 . 


.. 64-4 ., 


,. 66-2 


71-2 . 


.. 730 ., 


,. 72-2 


29-9 . 


.. 28-3 . 


.. 27-9 



292 SPHENOIDAL ANGLE. [Chap. in. 

splienoidal angle of Welcker. (e) The angle of Barclay. (/) Tlie 
cranio-facial angle of Huxley, which differs somewhat from the 
cranio-facial angle of Ecker, &c. It has been a matter of 
dispute as to the naso-hasilar line, as well as to the chord (N E, 
Eig. 37), measuring the extent of inflection which the bodies of the 
cranial vertebrae describe, from the basion where they commence to 
the naso-frontal suture looked upon as their termination. This 
inflection is divided, in reality, into two parts ; viz. a line, B S, 




Fig-. 37. — Median section of the skull. N B, Naso-basilar line ; N S and S B, The two 
sides of the sphenoidal angle ; S, Ephippium, vertex of the angle where the point of the 
sphenoidal crochet, which is seen in position, ought to touch. 

proceeding from the basion to the transverse ridge, which, in the 
interior of the skull, separates the sella turcica from the optic 
groove, and a line, S ^, passing from this point to the naso-frontal 
suture the obtuse angle which they make looking from below and 
in front is the sphenoidal angle or ephippium. If from this point 
a circle is described, all which is above and behind belongs to the 



CiiAP. III.] SPHENOIDAL ANGLE. 293 

cranium, all below and in front to the face — ^lience its interest. 
Subjoined are the measurements published by M. Welcker : 



30 Germans (men) 


134= 


30 „ (women) 


138 


10 cMldren from 10 to 15 years of age 


137 


6 new-born infants 


141 


6 negroes 


144 


1 chimpanzee 


149 


1 orang (old) 


174 


1 „ (adult) 


.. ... 172 


1 „ (young) 


155 


1 maimon 


170 


1 sagouin (adult) 


174 


1 „ (new-born) 


140 


1 „ (old) 


180 



Looking only at the adults in this table, it appears that the angle 
is less in the white, more open in the negro, more still in the orang, 
and that it increases still more in a pithecian ; which means that 
a small face, and reciprocally a large cranium, are the characteristic 
of superiority in the scale of Primates. But when we take the 
various ages into consideration matters present themselves in a 
different light. The sphenoidal angle is relatively a little larger in 
infancy than in adult age, and notably smaller in monkeys, which 
is in accordance with M. Welcker's statement that in Man the 
cerebral cavity at birth is less, relatively to its maximum volume, 
than at full age,* but that this cavity grows much more rapidly 
(see page 131). 

It has been asked what relation there is between the sphenoidal 
angle, that is to say the straight and curved portion of the body 
of the cranial vertebrae, and prognathism. M. Yirchow asserts that 
it diminishes when the latter increases. M. Welcker says the 
reverse. M. Lucse considers that they have no relation to each 
other. The same comparison has been made with the naso-basal 
angle, but improperly so, this only measuring a very small part of 
prognathism, and that the least important part, which we have 
called the nasal or supra-maxillary. 

* " Memoire stir les Microcepliales," by Carl Yogt. Geneva, 1867- 



294 ANGLE OF THE COKDYLES. , [Chap. in. 

The splienoidal angle is very objectionable, inasmiicli as it can 
only be measured on a section, and necessitates the skull being- 
divided. M. Broca has, to a certain extent, met the objection by 
his proceeding with the sphenoidal crochet, shown at Fig. 37, and 
one which he has recently successfully carried out.* Under the rather 
inapt title of the angle of the condyles, M. Ecker understands the 
obtuse angle, open above and behind, that the plane of the occipital 
foramen forms with the plane of the basilar groove, or clivus.t It 
varies from 100 to 125 degrees in negroes, and from 117 to 140 in 
whites; the mean being 113*5 in the former, and 128-2 in the 
latter. The difference, therefore, is so remarkable that this measure- 
ment ought to be maintained. It arises, according to the author, 
from the fact that the plane of the occipital foramen is lowered at 
its anterior border, as M. Broca has shown by the help of his 
occipital angles. But the strange part of it is — and it is not the 
first time that we have met with things of this kind — that this 
angle in anthropoids more nearly approaches that of the white than 
that of the black. It was 120 degrees in a young orang, 122 in a 
gorilla, and 128 in an old orang. Its diminution in negroes is not 
due, therefore, to the lowering of the occipital foramen, inasmuch 
as the latter is lower still in anthropoids. The variations of the 
angle of Ecker are dependent then on the inclination of the basilar 
groove. 

Special Systems. 

Under the title of special systems several topics might be con- 
sidered which have not been noticed in the foregoing chapters. 
We shall only mention two of them — endometry and endoscopy. 

If we attach importance to the external configuration of the 
skull, how much more should we do so to its interior or endocrane % 
M. Broca, having laid down certain rules for the measurement of 
the capacity of the cerebral cavity, proceeded without delay to 

'* See "Dict.Encycl.des Sciences Medicales," article "Angles CepLaliques," 
by M. Bertillon, 1866. 

f " TJeber die Verschiedene Kriimniung des Schadelrohres und iiber die 
Stellung des Schadels auf der Wirbelsaule beim Neger und beim Europaaer," 
by M. A. Ecker, in "Arch. Mr Anthrop.," vol. iv. 



Caucasian 

type. 
Millimetres. 


Mongolian 

type. 
Millimetres. 


Ethiopian 

type. 

Millimetres. 


. 23-88 . 


.. 23-75 .. 


,. 23-28 


. 54-55 . 


.. 52-00 ., 


,. 46-00 


■\n-r . 


.. 70-90 ., 


,. 73-10 


. 1737 . 


.. 1356 .. 


,. 1338 



Chap, hi.] WELCKEE'S CEANIAL NET. 295 

study its form and configuration in detail. For this purpose lie 
invented a series of instruments for measuring its diameter, for 
tracing its 'outlines, for making drawings, and lastly, for looking 
directly into it. Its results have not yet been thoroughly arrived 
at. As an example of what we may look for, we shall give the 
measurements of the trapezium and the surface included between 
the two optic foramina, and the two internal auditory foramina : 



Bioptic distance 
Biacoustic distance 
Acute angle formed by the pro- 
longation of the two other sides... 
Surface of the trapezium ... 



Among the details, of which an impression has been taken across 
the occipital foramen, we may note the ethmoidal fossa, the form 
and depth of which correspond to the projection of the beak of 
the encephalon, which is more developed in the inferior races, less 
so in the higher. 

The cranial net of M. Welcker, a system of triangulation of the 
external surface of the cranial ovoid, exclusive of the face, has not 
given results worthy of being recorded. It consists of — (a) A superior 
cranial quadrilateral, included between the parietal and frontal pro- 
tuberances ; (h) A frontal quadrilateral, smaller, included between 
the frontal protuberances and the line uniting the external 
orbital processes of the frontal; (c) An inferior quadrilateral, the 
anterior side of which is formed by that line, and the posterior 
by the line going from the point of one mastoid process to the 
other ; (c?) A triangle having this latter line for a base, and the 
inion for its apex. A triangle with its apex still at the inion, but 
its base on the line of the two parietal protuberances, terminates 
the circle of the figures in pairs. Two quadrilateral and two 
lateral triangles complete the entire system. It is useless to 
proceed farther. 

The system of Ihering is applied to the method of projections. 



296 SYSTEMS OF ANTELME AND KOPEKNlCKI. [Chap. hi. 

The author seems to have had a strong feehng against the doctrine 
of Oken on the vertebral constitution of the cranium, and in favour 
of that of Gegenbauer, maintaining that the cranium is formed in 
a manner independently of the vertebral column. There are no 
anatomical points, he says, upon Avhich one can rely ; that it is. 
useless to search for the relations of the different portions of the 
cranium ; and that it can only be measured as a whole, with the 
aid of maximum, and reciprocally perpendicular, lines. M. Ihering 
has consequently invented an apparatus for taking these maxima 
of height, breadth, and length, the skull being in its natural 
attitude. But here M. Ihering sets the rule he has laid down at 
defiance, and has recourse to anatomical points. In order to place- 
the skull in proper jDosition, he adoj)ts, as a fundamental line, 
the line of Meckel, going from the centre of the auditory meatus- 
to the inferior border of the orbit. l!^ow this line, by which 
everyone is guided, is raised eight degrees in relation to the axis 
of the orbital cavities, or to that of vision, in order to give the 
skull the most appropriate attitude. In the norma verticalis, to 
Yv^hich it gives rise, the most prognathous skulls become orthog- 
nathous. Moreover, M. Ihering has partly given up his system :. 
in the table of measurements which he propounded at the Dresden 
Congress in 1874 he becomes quite eclectic. 

The system of Antelme allows, with the aid of a special 
cephalometer, which is unfortunately very costly, of our determining 
with great exactness the reciprocal position of all the external 
points of the skull, and the distance from these points to the 
centre of the biauricular axis. Designed for use on the living 
subject, M. Bartillon has modified it so as to adapt it to the skull. 
Eor his description of it we refer the reader to the first volume of 
the " Memoires de la Socicte d' Anthropologic," and for examples 
of its application to the memoir of ^I. Bartillon on j^ew Cale- 
donians, in the "Eevue d' Anthropologic," vol. i. p. 284, 1872. 
. The system of M. Koperni§ki also requires a particular cranio- 
graph, which must have been suggested by the physionotype of 
Huschke, and reminds one of the circular band used by hatters. 
Its object is, among others, to take measurements of the skull 



Chap. IV.] OSTEOMETRICAL CHAEACTERS. 297 

which, have been omitted hy other methods of procedure. For a 
description of it we refer the reader to the " Bulletins de la Societe 
d'Anthropologie," 2nd series, vol. ii., 1867 ; and for its appli- 
cation, to the memoir on Bulgarian skulls hy M. J. Koperni§ki, in 
the " Eevue d'Anthropologie," vol. iv. p. 68, 1875. 

To sum up : the craniometer substitutes mathematical data for 
the uncertain data founded on judgment and opinion. It studies 
the skeleton of the head in its ensemhle, the cranium and the 
face separately, and then each of' its parts, by methods which take 
the head in its natural attitude, accept certain central points of 
more or less physiological importance, or have to do directly with 
absolute measurements apart from all preconceived theory. One 
of its systems is specially fertile in good results, namely, the com- 
parison of methods under the form of indices ; but it requires a 
large number of skulls in which individual marks of variation are 
effaced. Characteristics hitherto left to chance investigation also 
come within its province. It shows that the eye may be deceived, 
and analyses as far as possible those variable impressions which we 
term the beautiful. Although at first, and even now, encumbered 
with materials many of which ought to be eliminated, it has enabled 
us to recognise human types which without it would have remained 
undetermined ; and it bids fair one day to furnish a solid basis for 
the classification of races into genera and species. 



CHAPTER lY. 

SKELETON : ITS DESCRIPTIVE AND OSTEOMETEICAL CHARACTERS ITS 

PROPORTIONS THE VISCERA THE BRAIN : ITS WEIGHT. 

The other parts of the skeleton have been less studied than the 
skull : in the first place because their importance was not under- 
stood; and in the second, because travellers and archseologists 
neglected to take account of them. The characters which they 
furnish are of two orders, some having reference to the configuration 



298 PEEFORATION OF THE HUMERUS. [Chap. iv. 

of the bones themselves, and others to their respective proportions. 
Among the former may he placed the perforation of the humerus, 
certain forms of the femur, the tibia, the fibula, and the ulna ; the 
torsion of the humerus and the femur ; the curvature of the latter ; 
the angle which its body makes with the diaphysis ; the projection 
of the calcaneum; the breadth of the olecranon, ttc. We shall 
only refer to some of these. 

The perforation of the olecranon cavity of the humerus, first 
noticed in some skeletons of Hottentots and Guanches, is also met 
with in the negro and European. Its degree of frequency among 
the races of France has been the subject of discussion of late, 
and it is asked whether this character did not specially belong 
to one of the most ancient. The subjoined table will in a measure 
solve this question. We are indebted to the kindness of Dr. 
Prunieres de Marvejols, to whom anthropology owes so much for 
his many valuable discoveries, for all that we know respecting La 
Lozere. The results at the Pre-gallic station of Campans emanate 
from MM. Broca and Millecamps ; those on Parisians of the fourth 
to the tenth century, and on the mountaineers of the Ain, from 
ourselves. The others have been specially published in a note in 
the "Memoires" by M. Broca, vol. ii. p. 366. We shall only give 
the cases in which the number of the humeri which have been the 
subject of study has been furnished. 

Number of 
humei-i. Per cent. 

66 Caverne de rHomme Mort (La Lozere)... ... 10'6 

368 Dolmens of La Lozere ... ... ... ... 10'6 

128 Stations of Vaureal, Orrou j, and 'Chamans ) 

(Polislied Stone period) ) 

44 Pre-gallic station of Campans 12-5 

42 Mountaineers of the Ain (5tli century) 27*7 

69 French. Basques , 13-4 

200 Parisians of the 4th to the 10th century . . . 5*5 

218 „ of the Middle Ages 4-1 

150 „ anterior to the l7th century ... ... 4*6 

1000 (?) Merovingians of Chelles 2-0 

This shows that the perforation of the humerus as a common 
character dates back to the Polished Stone period; that it was 



Chap, iv.] PLATYCNEMIA. 299 

frequent at that epoch ; that it has contmiied among peoples placed 
in conditions favourable to the resistance of inter-breeding ; and 
that it has diminished in frequency since the commencement of our 
era. Its excessive rarity in the burial-places of individuals of the 
higher ranks at Chelles seems to account for this diminution. The 
following list of the variations at similar stations of the same 
epoch shows, however, that we must accept the above with some 
reserve. It has reference to the dolmens separately noticed by 
M. Prunieres de Marvejols. 



Dolmen No. 1. — 27 humeri . 
„ 2.-65 „ 
„ 3.— 8 „ 


. . 7 perforated . 
... 11 
... 1 


. . 25 per cent. 

■ • 17 
.. 12 


„ 4.— 31 „ 
„ 5.— 16 „ 


.. 1 

... 


. 3 

.. 



Lastly, it is well to remark — (a) That the perforation does not 
always show itself on both sides at once, which lessens its value ; 
(h) That it is exhibited in various degrees ; and (c) According to 
M. Broca, that it is more particularly to be seen in women. The 
character which the tibia sometimes presents, and which bears the 
name of platycnemia, or sabre-like, is much more remarkable. 
This bone is described in all works on anatomy as having a 
prismatic or triangular diaphysis. Its anterior border, immediately 
under the skin, is termed the crest of the tibia ; its internal gives 
insertion to an aponeurosis, which is applied to the fibula, and 
separates the muscles of the anterior region of the leg from those 
of the posterior. Its posterior surface is traversed above by an 
oblique rough line, which serves for the insertion of the popliteus 
muscle ; and below by a longitudinal line, giving insertion to other 
adjoining muscles. In platycnemia, the tibia has only two surfaces 
in its three upper fifths, an external and an internal. The anterior 
border is thin, the internal and external borders occupy the centre 
of the two surfaces, and the new posterior border corresponds to 
the above lines of insertion of muscles. Figure 38 shows a section 
of the two sorts of tibia. Platycnemia is noticed here and there in 
many of our graves, but with variable frequency. The first time 



300 



F:^MUR 1 COLOGNE. 



[Chap. iv. 



it was observed was in tlie tibias of the family buried at Cro- 
Magnon, at tbe Ancient Stone period. It has frequently been de- 
scribed as existing in England, both at the. Pre-gallic and the 
Polished Stone periods. In 200 Parisian tibias, which we have 
collected from the St. Marcel and St. Germain-des-Pres cemeteries, 
dating from the fourth to the tenth century, 5 '25 per cent, 
were platycnemic, and 14 per cent, were bent. This latter pecu- 
liarity is not uncommon in old graves, as well as the channelled 
fibula, that is to say, the fibula with enormously large longitudinal 
grooves for the insertion of muscles, the ulna incurvated forwards 
in its upper fourth, and the femur a colonne. This last is worthy a 
separate description. 





Fig. 38. — No. 1, Ordinary triangular tibia, the diaphysis divided on a level with the 
nutritive foramen. No. 2, Platycnemic tibia divided at the same spot. 

The muscles of the posterior part of the thigh are principally 
attached to the two longitudinal lines which form the posterior 
border of the femur, and together bear the name of Tinea aspera 
(ligne dpre). These two lines are wanting in the anthropoid ape, 
the border being round. In Man they are either blended together 
so as to be scarcely visible, or they project, and are separated by a 
rough interval. In the femur a colonne they form a still greater 
projection ; they are wider apart, and the adjoining surfaces of the 
bone being sunk in, make this projection appear still greater. 
Hence their pilaster-like appearance extending along the middle 
three-fifths of the bone. The femurs of Cro-Magnon are the most 
striking examples of this, those of the Guanches, in the laboratory 
of M. Broca, are very similar. Of 200 Parisian femurs obtained 



Chap, iv.] OSTEOMETKICAL CHAEACTERS. 301 

from the cemeteries before referred to, in 6-5 per cent, the cohimn was 
very marked, and in 36 per cent, it was so slightly. It seems, 
therefore, that these peculiarities of the tibia, femur, and fibula be- 
longed to one and the same race in Western Europe. The 30 
subjects from the cave at Sordes, in the Basque territory, belonging 
to the Polished Stone period, all exhibit them (Hamy)^ It is 
very remarkable, however, that they are rarely met with having per- 
foration of the olecranon cavity. The two races wliich have be- 
queathed to us the two varieties are therefore distinct. We have 
observed platycnemia, the incurvated ulna, and the pillar-like 
femur in other races, notably in skeletons from Oceania. The 
complete obliteration of the li)iea aspera of the femur, one of the 
highest simian characteristics, is rare. It is observed in the 
skeleton of the Hottentot Venus, now in Paris. 

Osteometrical Olmraders. 

At page 81 we have shown the difficulties met with in at once 
determining the proportions of the body on the skeleton and on the 
living subject, and the two methods which are in favour with 
anatomists — one in which the length of the bones is compared with 
the stature of the individual, the other in which the bones are com- 
pared with each other. We have also given the general results 
arrived at on a comparison of Man and the anthropoids. It now 
remains for us to speak of the appreciable differences between races : 
first, of those which we notice directly on the skeleton; and then of 
those which are to be studied on the living subject. 

The selection of osteometrical measurements and methods of 
proceeding varies according to the object Ave have in view. When 
we AVLsh to calculate the proportions of the body, we are obliged to 
measure the bones in their normal position, the indiAddual being 
supposed to be standing erect, and only to include that portion 
which contributes to the total length of the limb. At other times we 
are satisfied with their absolute length. For some, as the clavicle, 
the fibula, and even the ulna, this is generally sufficient. The bone is 
laid upon a graduated slab — the osteometrical slab of M. Broca 



302 OSTEOMETEICAL CHARACTEES. [Chap. iv. 

being preferred — and with a square we take the two most deviating 
projections which it gives on this slab. Such is the usual mode of 
proceeding. With the radius we do the same, having no choice in 
the matter. The forearm really extends no farther than the convex 
articular surface of the carpus, and consequently the articular cavity 
corresponding to the inferior extremity of the radius ; but no spot 
on the circumference of this cavity furnishes any fixed measur- 
ing point, so that we are obliged to include the styloid process in 
the length of the bone, consoling ourselves that the measurement 
becomes easier to compare with that taken on the living subject. 

In the humerus the natural obliquity of the bone is so slight that 
we may leave it out of consideration, and we have no hesitation as 
to the measuring points, except as regards its inferior extremity. 
White measured the humerus from the border of the acromion to 
the point of the olecranon. M. Hamy, when engaged on the 
subject of the development 'of the bone, and looking for its maxi- 
mum, took the internal border of the trochlea. M. Broca, wishing 
to join the humerus to the radius, makes the former terminate at 
their point of contact, at the condyle. In the tibia the superior limit 
is, without doubt, the flat articular surface ; while the inferior, if we 
require the true length of the leg, is the cavity articulating with the 
astragalus, and in practice one of the borders of this cavity; we^ 
therefore do not include the internal malleolus, which is like a 
supplementary bone. It certainly is not rational, when the propor- 
tions of the limbs are in question, to include the internal malleolus; 
with the leg, at the same time that we discard the styloid process 
from the forearm ; but in this latter case necessity makes the law. 

The femur is the long bone, in which our methods of proceeding 
necessarily vary according to the object we have in view. If we 
want its length in proportion to the height of the body, we must 
take account of its obliquity. For this purpose the bone is placed 
on its posterior surface, so that the two condyles are square with the 
vertical plane. The regular position of the bone on the living 
subject is thus obtained ; and it only remains to determine, with the 
square, its superior maximum, whether at the top of its head or at 
the point of the great trochanter — the former being the better for 



Chap, iv.] PEOPORTIONS OF THE SKELETON. 303 

getting at the general proportions. If, on tlie contrary, the ahsohite 
length is required, inclusively or exclusively of the great trochanter, 
we begin, as with the clavicle, by laying the bone on the outer side. 

Proportions of tlie Sheleton. 

White, as far back as the year 1794, remarked in the living 
subject, and demonstrated both on this and on the skeleton, that 
the forearm of the negro, compared with the arm, is longer than 
that of the European ; but not going into the matter further, nothing 
was done up to the time of Lawrence in* 1817. 

Humphry, in 1838, was more explicit. He stated that the 
thigh and the arm of the negro are shorter than those of the Avhite, 
while his superior extremity is longer ; that there is but little differ- 
ence between his arm and forearm ; that his leg is of the same 
length, but longer as compared with the thigh ; and that his hand is 
an eighth, and his foot a twelfth, shorter. The following are -his 
measurements relatively to the stature, this being = 100 : 



Humerus + 


radius 


25 
Europeans. 

... 33-69 


25 
Negroes. 

34-68 


Difference as 
regards the negro 

+ 0-99 


Femur + tib 
Eadius . . . 


ia ... 


... 49-66 
... 14-15 


50-63 
15-16 


+ 0-97 
+ 1-01 


Hum.erus . . . 




... 19-54 


19-52 


- 0-02 


Tibia 




... 22-15 


23-23 


-f 1-08 


Femur . . . 




... 27-51 


27-40 


- 0-11 



But the objection is (see page 82) that the correct stature can- 
not be ascertained on the mounted skeleton. Let us then take 
M. Broca's figures. In the following table the absolute lengths are 
compared together and added. We draw attention particularly to 
the first three relations : 



Humerus + radius : femur -h tibia = 100.. 
Eadius: humerus = 100 ... 
Eadius : femur + tibia = 100 
Humerus : femur + tibia = 100 ... 
Clavicle : humerus = 100 

We gather from this — {a) That the clavicle in the negro is longer 







Diff. as 


uropeans. 


NegToes. 


reg. negro. 


69-73 


.. 68-27 


.. T 1-46 


73-93 


.. 79-40 


.. + 5-47 


29-54 


.. 30-38 


.. + 0-64 


40-11 


.. 38-20 


.. - 1-91 


44-63 


.. 46-74 


.. + 2-11 



304 PROPOETIOInS OF THE SKELETON. [Chap. iv. 

in proportion to the Iiunierns. (b) That his anterior extremity, 
from the shoulder to the wrist, is a little shorter, Avhich is an 
anomaly, when we remember that it is longer in the anthropoid ; 
however, it may probably be explained, (c) That his radius is 
perceptibly longer in proportion to the humerus, thus approximating 
it to that of the ape ; White, Humphry, and Broca are all agreed in 
this respect, (d) That his tibia is longer as compared Avith the 
femur, which, if our statement at page 88 is confirmed, would make 
it less simian than the European, (e) Lastly, that his humerus is 
shorter, and this no doubt erxplains the above anomaly. The upper 
extremity of the negro is shorter than that of the European, not 
because his radius has been lengthened, but because his humerus 
has been shortened. A superior character has originated from 
the union of two inferior ones. The anomaly in M. Broca's table 
is perhaps accidental — Mr. Humphry's figures giving the rela- 
tion to the height of the body, lead us to think so — it loses all its 
importance when, considering the diversity of races, we see the un- 
important position which the proportions of the skeleton exhibit 
in the series. 

The following are some relations calculated according to M. Broca's 
mode after measurements made by Barnard Davis,* Humphry, Broca, 
and ourselves : 

Hiim. + rad.: fem. + tib. Ead.: hum. Tib.: fern. 

1 Esquimau 71-3(100) 71-0(100) 75-8(100) 

1 Amo 68-4 ... 75-2 ... 76-8 

1 Andaman 70-3 ... 79-2 ... 81-8 

2 Javanese 68-9 ... 82-0 ... 83-0 

4 Tasmanians ... 68-2 ... 83-5 ... 84-3 

7 Australians 68-4 ... 75-5 ... 84-3 

8 New Caledonians ... 69-5 ... 77*5 ... 83-8 

5 Bosjesmans... ... 68-4 ... 75*5 ... 83-5 

Tlys table, which is somewhat similar to the foregoing, shows in 
the first column that we must not expect to find the position of 
a race in the scale in the proportion of the upper to the lov/er 
extremity. It is true the Esquimau and the Andaman have the 

* " On tlie Osteology and Peculiarities of the Tasmanians," by J. Barnard 
Davis. Harlem, 1874. 



Chap, iv.] THE PELVIS. 305 

longest upper extremity, and the four Tasmanians the shortest in 
the list, the Europeans coming hetween them. By far the longest 
radius is seen in the Javanese and Tasmanians, and the shortest in 
the Esquimau, while the Europeans are intermediate in length. 
The tibia appears to be decidedly the longest in the inferior races, 
and shortest in the Esquimau and the Aino. As regards the 
tibia, therefore, the balance is in favour of Mr. Humpliry's views, 
and contrary to the foregoing calculations. 

It is clear thus far, without one's being able to account for it on 
any definite prmciple, that the proportions of Man neither approxi- 
mate to, nor are far removed from, those of the anthropoid in all 
parts of the skeleton at once, but sometimes in one and sometimes 
in another, ^^othing is more opposed to the monogenistic theory 
of hierarchical gradation of races, and more conformable to that of 
parallel formations. A type is superior in one point, inferior in 
another. It is the same with the family of the anthropoids, there 
is the same divergence of proportions between their genera and 
species as between the human races.* 

The proportions of the trunk, with the exception of the pelvis, 
can hardly be studied except on the living subject. 



The Pelvis. 

The pelvis, formed by the two iliac bones and the sacrum, is 
divided into two parts — the great pelvis, or wide upper portion, and 
the small pelvis, or pelvic cavity, through which the foetus passes 
at birth. Camper and Soemmering observed that the pelvis of the 
negro in its ensemble is narrower than that of the white. Cuvier, 
in his brilliant memoir on the Hottentot Venus, insisted on the 
evidences of inferiority which he found in it. Weber maintained 

'' See " Memoires," by M. Broca, already referred to, page 86 ; "A Treatise 
on the Human Skeleton," by Humphry, Cambridge, 1858 ; " Eecherohes sur 
les Proportions du Bras et de I'Avant-bras," by E. Hamy, in " Eevue 
d'Anthropologie," vol. i., 1873 ; " Observations on the Skeleton of a 
Hottentot," by Jeff. Wyman, in "Anthropol. Eeview," London, vol. iii., 
1865, &c. 

X 



306 PEOPORTIONS OF THE PELVIS. [Chap. iv. 

that the inlet, that is to say the upper opening of the cavity, 
exhibits four forms, which are met with in all races, but most 
frequently the oval form in the European, the square in the Mon- 
golian, the round in the American, and the wedge-like in the negro. 
In 1826 Yrolik came to the conclusion that the pelvis of the male 
negro — from its strength and thickness — from the want of trans- 
parency of its iliac fossae — from the higher projection of its superior 
extremity, and from the spinous processes of the iliac bones being 
less projecting and less separated from the cotyloid cavities, approxi- 
mates to that of animals, while the pelvis of the negress maintains 
a certain slenderness. In 1864 Joulin asserted that the transverse 
diameter of the inlet is always greater antero-posteriorly in the 
female, and that as to configuration, there are only two human 
groups — the European and the Mongolian negro. In the negress, he 
says, the iliac bones are more vertical, the transparency of the fossae, 
the capacity and depth of the cavity less, the pubic arch, as well as 
its angle, greater. But M. 3^oulin had only studied the female 
pelvis, and M. Pruner-Bey, the year subsequently, set to work to 
prove that ethnic differences ought rather to be looked for in the 
male pelvis."^ 

The most general of all the characters of the pelvis is the relation 
of its breadth to its length, which has been already described, 
page 67. In the subjoined table, where the sexes are given 
separately, the length being equal to 100, the breadth would be : 

* On the pelvis, see " Considerations sur la Diversite des Bassins des 
differentes Races Humaines," by Vrolik, Amsterdam, 1826 ; " La Doctrine 
des Formes Primitives du Crane et du Bassin Humains," by Weber, 1830 ; 
"Des Eaces de rOceanie FranQaise ;" "Du Bassin Neo-Caledonien," by A. 
Bom-garel, in " Mem. Soc. d'Anthrop.," vol. i., 1860 ; " Anatomie et 
Physiologie du Bassin des Mammiferes," by Joulin, in "Arch, de Medic," 
6th series, vol. iii., 1864; "Etudes sur le Bassin considere dans les 
differentes Eaces Humaines," by Pruner-Bey, in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 
1864 ; " Du Sacrum suivant le Sexe et Suivant les Eaces," by Bacarisse, 
thesis, Paris, 1873 ; " Des Proportions Generales du Bassin chez I'Homme 
et dans la Serie des Mammiferes," by Paul Topin rd, in " Comptes Eendus 
de I'Association pour I'Avancement des Sciences," vol. iii., 1874, Lille ; " Le 
Bassin dans les Sexes et dans les Eaces," by E. Yerneau, thesis, Paris, 
1875. . - 



€hap. IV.] MUSCLES AND YISCEEA. 307 





Men. 




Women. 




White races... 


.. 25 .. 


. 126-2 


... 4 ... 


1391 


Yellow races 


.. 2 .. 


. 125-7 


... 2 ... 


138-3 


African negroes 


.. 17 .. 


. 121-3 


... 8 ... 


133-8 


New Caledonians . 


.. W .. 


,. 128-9 


... 5 ... 


, 129-9 


Bosjesmans ... 


.. — .. 


. -- 


... 2 ... 


135-6 



Other less important osteometrical cliaracters are fiirnisliecl by the 
skeleton, which want of space prevents us from entering upon, and 
which, moreover, are still under investigation. For example 
{«) The degree of curvature of the femur, that is to say the 
height of the diaphysis when the hone is placed on a horizontal 
plane ; {!)) The angle of inclination of the diaphysis upon the plane 
passing across the inferior surface of the condyles, that is to say, . 
its normal obliquity in the standing position ; (c) The angle of the 
neck with the diaphysis ; (c?) The angle of torsion of the humerus ; 
(e) The antero-posterior and transverse diameters of the tibia, from 
which an index is formed for estimating platycnemia; (/) The 
breadth and thickness of the olecranon, which give another 
important index ; (g) The length of the calcaneum behind the 
articid.ar border of the tibia ; <fec. 

Muscles, Viscera, Vessels, and Nerves. 

Their study, equally with that of the bones, forms part of the 
comparative anatomy of jVIan ; but we can only give a brief sketch 
of the subject. 

The anatomy in ordinary use Avith physicians has been acquired 
in our dissecting-rooms, on white subjects, of which there is always 
a plentiful supply. Some few negroes and Mongolians have also 
been submitted to dissection, but without much attention being 
paid to the subject. It is only now that this branch of 
antlu^opology is beginning to spring into life. We begin to find 
that there are as many reasons ^vhy we should search into the 
differences which exist in internal organs as into tlie features of the 
countenance. Some splendid works on the anatomy of foreign 
races have already appeared ; anatomical variations, supposed 
anomalies, are no longer passed by as matters of no interest ; and 

X 2 



308 MUSCLES AND VISCERA. [Chap. iv. 

the laboratory of M. Broca is so arranged as to furnish the amplest 
materials for study, and bids fair one day to supply the deficiency 
which has been so long experienced. One fact has been already 
ascertained — namely, that the mnscniar system is the seat of 
differences : some as to the nature of the characters which we 
have termed unimportant ; others produced by arrangements which 
are found normally in various classes of the mammalia. The 
variations exhibited by the cutaneous muscle, the muscles of the 
face or of the ears, the adductors of the arm, the rectus abdominis 
muscle, the muscles of the hand and foot, the glutsei, and the triceps 
of the calf of the leg are in this category. Some are even repeated 
so frequently in certain individuals of the same race as to lead 
us to ask if they are not the normal condition in that race, and 
one of its characteristic features. The skeleton of itself recog- 
nises the existence of peculiarities of the muscular system, and 
exhibits them in default of postmortem examination. Thus the 
development of the temporal fossa, in extent and depth, shows 
the degree of development of the temporal muscle which was 
inserted there ; the femur a colonne and the channelled fibula of 
our ancestors of the Eyzies testify as to the strength and size of 
their posterior femoral muscles, and of the external muscles of the 
leg. All the internal parts of the body are subject to variety in 
different races : the i>eritoneum, the ileo-csecal appendix, the liver, 
the larynx ; and if the small number of cases observed did not lead 
us to fear pronouncing as an individual variation one of an ethnic 
character, we might mention many examples of them. No doubt 
special peculiarities in the internal generative organs will be dis- 
covered. Mr. Bakewell at one time thought he had discovered 
differences in the blood globules : they were attributable to accli- 
mation. Nevertheless we hope he will continue to prosecute his 
inquiries in this direction.* 

* See " On the Various Forms of the Glottis," by Gibb, in " Anthrop. 
Review," vol. ii., 1864 ; and " On the Larynx of the Negro," by the same 
author, in " Anthrop. Review," vol. iii., 1865 ; " Dissection of a Bosjesman 
Woman," by Flower and Murrie, in " Journ. of Anat. and Physiol.," London^ 
1867; "Observations d'Anatomie Anthrop ologique sur le Corps d'uu 
Negre," by Kopernicki, in " Revue d' Anthrop.," vol. i., 1872 j M. Chud - 



Chaf. it.] nervous system. 309 

The nervous system lias been the subject of closer study. 
Soemmering, and after him Jacquart, demonstrated that the 
nerves of the negro, particularly those of the base of the brain, 
are larger than those of the European. ' It has been ascer- 
tained that his cerebral substance is not so white. With regard to 
the external structure, of the brain and its convolutions, no funda- 
mental difference between them has been as yet discovered ; which 
was to be expected, inasmuch as there is none between Man and 
the anthropoid. JSTevertheiess there are gradations as regards the 
richness of the secondary convolutions. The convolutions are 
larger and less complex in the inferior races. The superior frontal 
was not unfolded in the Hottentot Venus ; the pits de passage from 
the parietal to the occipital lobe are exceptionally less superficial 
on one side, so that the perpendicular fissure is more visible, and 
the occipital lobe better marked ; there is in fact more or less want 
of symmetry between the two sides. But these are individual 
variations, and not characters of race. 

The weight of the brain, one would suppose, ought to exhibit 
differences of a more important character. ^N^othing of the kind. 
Individual variations whoUy prevail, and necessitate, more than in 
any other character, our carrying on our investigations upon an 
extended basis. 

]^ow, if weighing the brain immediately after death had been 
practised on a sufficiently large scale either in Europe or America, 
it could hardly have been so in countries inhabited by the inferior 
races. The process of weighing requires the most minute care, and 
should, properly, be conducted when the brain is in a fresh state, 
and not after having been kept in spirit. Thus science has but 
few materials to work with. These variations depend on age, sex, 
stature, the disease which was the cause of death, the individual's 
amount of intelligence, &c. We have referred to this at page 120 ; 
we shall confine ourselves therefore to making an approximate 

zinsld's " Memoireg," already quoted ; " De la Valeur des Anomalies 
Musculaires au Point de Vue d'Anthropologie Zoologique," by Samuel 
Pozzi, in " Comptes Rendus de I'Assoc. pour I'Avanc. des Sciences," 
vol. iii., 1874; &c. 



310 



WEIGHT OF THE BEAIK. 



[Chap, iv.. 



estimate of the probable percentage in the form of a table similar ta 
that of Parchappe. 

Variations in the total weiglit. 



s to sex 


10 per 


„ age 


4 


„ heig-ht 


... 4 


„ mental disease ... 


... 4 to 5 „ 


„ idiotcy 


18* „ 


„ last illness 


io(?)„ 


„ intelligence 


20 



This shows that we ought to take brains in precisely identical 
conditions, that is to say healthy ones of the same 'age and the 
same sex, and to take care, following Huschke's example, not to 
confound the cases of individuals who have died under ordinary 
circumstances with those who have died suddenly in sound health, 
such as suicides. The difference between them may be as much a» 
130 grammes, or as great as between the means of a superior and an 
inferior race. But an entire security is afforded to the comparison 
of the brain in different races by the individual variations, which 
are so capricious, and are dependent on so many external circum- 
stances of original or acquired intelligence, or more still on cerebral 
activity, whatever its physiological manifestations may be. The 
density of the cerebral substance increases probably, as well as 
the total volume and richness of the convolutions, by intellectual 
activity. The brain of an Australian, superior relatively to his 
fellows around him, will be heavier and have more convolutions 
than that of a Parisian of mere mediocre intelligence. The 
deviation of 20 per cent, in the weight of the brain in the white 
race is the difference between the average weight of this race and 
that of the brains of Cuvier and Dupuytren. Supposing that these 
two cases are anomalies, and reducing the deviation one half, it 
Avould still be 130 grammes. Here, therefore, more than in any 
other anthropological character, we must make our calculations 
upon large masses, in which individualities are lost. Bearing these 



* The average weiglit of tlie brain of idiots as taken bj Mr. Crocbley 
S. Clapham is 1188 grammes in the male, and 1057 in the female. 



Chap, iv.] 



WEIGHT OF THE BRAIN. 



things in mind, we shall reproduce the following table of weights 
of the brain in various races :* 



105 English and Scotch (Peacock) ... 

28 French (Parchappe) 

40 Germans (Huschke) 

18 „ (Wagner) 

60 Anstrians (Wiesbach) ... 
1 Annamite (Broca) 

7 African Negroes (various authors) 

8 „ „ (Broca) 
1 Negro of Pondicherry (Broca) ... 
1 Hottentot (Wyman)f 

1 Cape Negro (Broca) 

Women. 
34 English and Scotch (Peacock) ... 

18 French (Parchappe) 
22 Germans (Huschke) 
13 „ (Wagner) 

19 Anstrians (Wiesbach) ... 

2 African Negresses (Peacock) . . . 
2 „ „ (Broca) 
2 Bushwomen (Marshall, Flower, and Murrie) 
1 Australian (Owen) 





Grammes. 




.. 1427 




.. 1334 




.. 1382 




.. 1392 




.. 1342 




.. 1233 




.. 1238 




.. 1289 




.. 1330 




.. 1417 


... 


.. 974 




.. 1260 




.. 1210 




.. 1244 




.. 1209 




.. 1160 




.. 1232 




.. 1067 


[urrie) , 


... 974 




. 907 



* See the " Memoire " of Parchappe, already quoted ; " Schoedel, Hirn, und 
Seele des Menschen und der Thiere," by Huschke, Jena, 1854 ; " On the 
Weight of the Brain, and the Circumstances affecting it," by J. Thurnam, 
in " Journal of Med. Sciences," vol. xii. ; " Contributions towards deter- 
mining the Weight of the Brain in different Eaces of Men," by J. Barnard 
Davis, London, 1868 ; " On the Weight of the Brain of the Negro," by 
Peacock, in "Mem. Anthrop. Soc, London, vol. i., 1863-64; "Memoires," 
by Wagner, Broca, Gratiolet, already quoted, in " Bull. Soc. d' Anthrop.," 
Paris, 1862. 

f This exceptional weight in a negro is surpassed by one of M. Broca's 
negroes, which is as much as 1500 grammes. May it not be asked whether 
the free negro living among Europeans has not a heavier brain than if he 
had remained in his own country, far removed from great intellectual excite- 
ment ? With regard to Wyman's Hottentot, his stature was 169 centimetres, 
which is sufficient to show that he was not a Hottentot but a Kaffir, or at 
least a half-caste. 



312 WEIGHT OF THE BRAIN. [Chap. iv. 

We have omitted from this list a series of weights taken during 
the American war, by Sandifort B. Hunt, which inckided 405 
brains of whites, blacks, and half-castes. Mr. B. Davis finds fault 
with their author for not having indicated his method of operating. 
These weights, notivithstanding, are of considerable value for their 
reciprocal relations. 

In the first place, the mean weight of 278 European brains was 
1430 grammes; the. extremes b,cing 963 and 1842 respectively. 
This latter was evidently a case of disease, or belonged to some 
obscure Cuvier. In the second place, the mean weight of 141 
negroes was 1331, and the maximum and minimum 1507 and 
1013 respectively. The a.uthor .divides the half-castes into white 
and black, according to the degree of mixture of breed. It is the 
method of determining this degree to which exception may be taken.* 

Grammes. 
24 Whites ... 1424 



25 Three parts white... 
47 Half white, or mulattoes . . . 
51 One quarter white 
95 An eighth white ... 
22 A sixteenth white... 
141 Pure negroes 



1390 
1334 
1319 
1308 
1280 
1331 



Does not this seem to show that the white blood where it pre- 
dominates in a mixed breed exercises a preponderating influence in 
favour of cerebral development, while the inverse predominance of 
negTo blood leaves the brain in a condition of inferiority approaching 
even that of the pure negro ? This would lead us to believe that 
the mixed breeds assimilate the bad more readily than the good. 

In default of being able to obtain direct weights of the brain in 
sufficient numbers in the various races, we must address ourselves 
to the cranial capacity. B. Davis, Wiesbach, and Welcker have 
endeavoured in this way to ascertain the probable weight, and have 
published long tables on the subject. Mr. Davis makes use, as we 
all know, of sand in making his calculations. From the total 

* "The Negro as a Soldier," by Sandifort B. Hunt, "Anthropological 
Review," vol. vii., 1869. 



€hap. IV.] WEIGHT OF THE BRAIN. 313 

weight of sand he subtracts 15 per cent, for tlie membranes, the 
blood of the venous sinuses, and the serous fluid within the cavity 
of the cranium. Others consider that 13 per cent, is nearer the 
mark. As a matter of fact the waste varies extraordinarily between 
one cranium and another.* 

The specific weight of the dried sand being taken at 1425, and 
that of the cerebral substance at 1040 (which also varies), the 
calculation is very simple. The following are some results, selected 
by Mr. B. Davis, from a list of 133 examples : 



Men. 


Grammes. 


Women. 


Grammes 


Englisli 21 


.. 1425 • . 


.. 13 . 


. 1222 


Chinese ... ... 25 


.. 1357 . 


8 . 


. 1298 


Esquimaux 5 


.. 1396 . 


5 


. 1247 


Negroes of Dahomey 9 


.. 1322 . 


3 . 


. 1249 


Australians 17 


.. 1197 . 


7 


. 1169 



M. Wiesbach has confirmed the value of this method. He 
obtained the cubic measurement of 1 1 5 crania with sand, deducted 
from it the probable weight of the brain, and then weighed this 
organ. The following was the result, in grammes, in males below 
90 years of age : 





Age. 


Weight 
calculated. 


Direct 
weight. 


Difference. 


5 Crania .. 


. 10 to 19 . 


.. 1270-06 . 


. 1223-85 


.. 46-21 


75 „ 


. 20 „ 29 . 


.. 1355-11 . 


. 1341-43 


.. 13-68 


9 „ 


. 30 „ 59 . 


.. 1374-95 . 


. 133012 


.. 44-83 


11 „ 


. 60 „ 90 . 


. 1349-44 . 


, 1241-21 


.. 108-23 



This approximation ought to suffice, for why should we go on 
with so complicated a proceeding when, after all, we can only 
substitute one figure for another, the relation remaining the same 
in the different series 1 We cannot expect to compare this neAV 
result with the weight obtained directly. One of the most certain 
elements of divergence between one race and another is precisely 
the density of the cerebral substance, which is here supposed to be 
uniform. The operation of Mr. Davis really gives only the relative 

* In eight negroes M. Broca found a difference of from 8 to 20 per cent, 
between the weight of the brain and the cranial capacity. 



314 PHYSICAL CHAEACTERS IN LIVING SUBJECT. [Chap. t. 

volume, therefore we may as well confine ourselves to tlie cranial 
capacity itself. 

Provided that all the conditions for weighing the hrain properly 
are fully complied with, that the influence of the disease of which 
the individual died is taken into consideration, as well as the 
hypostatic accumulation of blood in depending parts at the time of 
death ; that some form of wicker receiver is made use of in which 
to place the hrain, for a given time, so as to alloAv it to drain, &c. — 
then the difference of weight, according to race, might be ascertained ; 
in the same way, difference in the volume of the cavity, fluids 
and blood included, may be ascertained by regular cubic measure- 
ment. Consequently, until some better method has been suggested, 
Ave must rely more upon our tables of cubic measurements (see 
page 230). 



CHAPTEE Y. 

PHYSICAL CHAEACTERS IN THE LIVING SUBJECT ANTHROPOMETRICAL 

CHARACTERS PROPORTIONS IN ART STATURE MEASUREMENT OF 

THE HEAD AND BODY. 

The physical characters, deduced from the examination of the 
internal organs, occupy the highest place in natural history, for the 
sole reason that the field in which they are displayed is more vast. 
Eut anthropologists and naturalists do not on that account neglect 
those which the external organs manifest, and which invite a much 
greater amount of attention. Among the latter some have reference 
to the envelope of the body itself, and its connections ; such as the 
colour of the skin, the character of the hair, and whatever has 
reference to the external organs of sense and reproduction. They 
are ascertained by inspection, and are only exceptionally expressed 
by figures : tliese then will be our descriptive characters. Others are 
only the reflex of the internal conformation, and are obtained by 
systematic measurements : these are anthropometrical characters. 



Chap, v.] ANTHEOPOMETEICAL CHAEACTERS. 31& 

Such are the proportions of the body, ivhich we may think our- 
selves fortunate — seeing the few opportunities we have of noticing 
them on the skeleton, and still less on the dead body — to be able 
to verify upon the living subject, and, even to do this, we have to 
appeal to the kindness of travellers. 

AntUropometrical Cltaraders. Proportions of the Body. 

The sculptors of antiquity were the first to make these their 
study. Certain canons, that is to say, conventional rules, based no 
doubt on observation, but more still on individual feeling, were 
adopted by them. Three of these were recognised among the 
Egyptians, and one among the Greeks — the famous statue of 
Polycletus. But they deviated from them according to the concep- 
tion which they desired to infuse into their work. If they Avished 
to represent a god, as Jupiter, for example, they developed the 
subject less by a rigorous adherence to nature than by selecting 
from those around them a form of forehead which suited them the 
best, or b}' cunningly bringing the ear lower, by which the facial 
angle Avas enlarged ; if they aimed at. nobleness and grace, the 
neck Avas bare, the limbs Avere made round and sliin -, if at the 
sublime, the head, the limbs, and especially the joints, Avere 
made larger {Quetdet). Wide shoulders denoted strength; narroAV 
shoulders youth, or effeminate character ; the trunk all of one size^ 
or drawn in at the Avaist, had also its signification. The pelvis Avas 
contracted Avhen it Avas designed to aAvaken modest sentiments, or 
Avidened Avhen intended to excite feelings of an opposite character. 
Rigorous exactness Avas so little sought after by the Greeks that 
they Avere not afraid to commit the most egregious errors in anatomy 
(Gerdy), and even to make the limbs unequal. In the Laocoon 
the left leg is longer than the right, and in one of his sons it is 
the reverse. The Pythian Apollo and the Venus de Medicis have 
each one leg longer than the other (Aiidi-an). 

The various schools Avliich have succeeded the Renaissance period 
have been inspired with the same ideas. In Italy, height of figure 
was expressive of dignity. In Spain, the figure Avas reduced in 



316 PEOPOETIOKS OF THE BODY IN ART. [Chap. v. 

size with a view to denote delicacy of form. In Holland, it 
was made large to illustrate realism. In France, of late, the head 
only has been exaggerated, with a view to its exciting greater 
attention. The artistic and the anthrojjological conception therefore 
are contradictory the one to the other : the one idealises the beautiful, 
the other searches after the true. Art, then, ought to rest upon 
anthropology, in that its whims are tolerated, though under the 
express condition that they do not go beyond the individual varia- 
tions which anthropometry reveals to it. If there is no art without 
feeling, neither is there any without design and without truth. 

It had not occurred to the ancients that there were differences in 
the proportions of the various races of mankind, notwithstanding 
which, as M. Edwards has remarked, the Greeks set before them 
two types, the divine and the heroic. Almost involuntarily, the 
Egyptians took as their model two indigenous types, not including 
those of negroes and Jews, which figured more particularly among 
their prisoners of war. Eut the sentiment which prevails through- 
out antiquity, and which is perpetuated throughout the Renaissance 
period up to the present time, is, that unity of the human type 
corresponds to unity of species. It was this which led Quetelet 
to affirm that ten individuals of the same age and of the same sex 
were ample to exhibit the proportions of the body, and that all 
deviations from them were only individual variations. 

The opposite doctrine of the plurality of types did not begin to 
be delineated until the time of Albert Diirer. Camper aided in 
developing it. It is now generally admitted, and we look for the 
negro ideal, or the Mongol ideal, as well as for the white ideal. It 
is upon this conception that the science of the proportions of bodies, 
as ascertained by anthropometry and by the method of averages, 
rests. And in the first place let us give the terms of the modern 
canon, as taught in the schools of art, where the white is the 
standard for the anatomy of the figure, as it is in the dissecting- 
rooms for ordinary anatomy.* 

"''" " Les Proportions du Corps Humain mesurees sur les plus Belles Figures 
de TAntiquite," folio, by Gerard Audran, 1863; "Anatomie des Formes 
Exterieures du Corps Humain," 8vo., by P. N. Gerdj, Paris, 1869 ; " Types 



Chap, v.] STATURE. 317 

" Tlie liuinau body is equal to eight lengths of the head, divided 
thus: from the vertex to the chin, one; from the chin to the 
nipples, one ; from these to the umbilicus, one ; from the umbilicus 
to the genital organs, one ; from these to the middle of the thigh, 
one ; from this point to the spine of the tibia, one ; from this spine 
to the middle of the leg, one; from this to the ground, one {Gerdy). 

" The head is divided into four equal parts : from the vertex to 
the line o£ the hair ; from this point to the root of the nose ; from 
the root to tlie base of the nose ; from this base to the chin {Gerdij). 

" The space between the eyes, and the breadth at the base of the 
nose, are each equal to one length of the eye. The mouth and ear 
are each equal to two lengths of the eye. 

" The length of the hand and that of the face (from the line of the 
hair to the chin) are equal, and form the ninth part of the stature. 
The length of the foot and the circumference of the clenched fist 
are equal, and form the sixth part of the stature. 

"Eut these are only approximations, and like all canons are 
only for the purpose of refreshing the memory. Let us see what 
the real dimensions ai'C. As in the skeleton, there are two methods 
of ascertaining the proportions of the body : one consists in com- 
paring the principal parts together, as the superior extremities to 
the inferior, the forearm to the arm; the other to reduce the 
dimensions obtained into thousandths of the stature. The latter is 
the better, and the readiness with which it can be had recourse to 
is precisely that which gives the advantage of the measurements 
on living subjects over those of the skeleton. The first thing, 
therefore, is to ascertain the stature." 

Stature. 

This is arrived at with difficulty on the skeleton, as we have 
shown at page 81. On the dead body when laid out straight it 

Ethniqiies representes par la Sculpture et Proportions du Corps," by 
Cordier, in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop." ; article " Anatomie des Beaux Arts," by 
Dechambre, in " Encycl. Sc. Med., 1866 ; " Anthropometrie," by Quetelet,, 
Brussels, 1871 ; &c. 



318 STATURE. [Chap. v. 

loses about 13 millimetres. The best way is to take it on the 
living subject, which allows of our pursuing our investigations ujDon 
large numbers, in whom the individual variations are lost. 

The height or stature varies, like all the dimensions of the 
various parts of the human body, according to age, sex, individual 
peculiarity, external circumstances, state of previous health, and 
race. 

At birth man's height is about 50 centimetres, according to 
Quetelet ; at 5 years of age, about 1 metre; at 15, 1*50 metre; at 
19 years of age he wants 15 millimetres to complete his full height, 
which is reached generally at or about 30 years of age, though this 
varies. From 50 to 60 years of age the height always decreases, 
-according to Quetelet, and at 90 years of age is less by 7 centimetres. 
From our own personal observation we find that this is so almost 
universally, and consequently, in order to get at the true stature, we 
ought to confine ourselves to individuals beyond 30 years. The 
woman is shorter than the man, on the average about 12 centimetres ; 
that is to say she is 7 per cent, less in height. Consequently, when 
we wish to compare the measurements of both directly, we must add 
to that of the woman, or deduct from that of the man, 7 per cent. 
But this difference varies according to race. It is greater, ccbteris 
jKirlbus, in tall races, and less in races of low stature. In the 
former it reaches an average of 14 centimetres, or 8 per cent. ; and 
in the latter, 7 centimetres, or 5 per cent. Therefore, according as 
we have to do with tall, medium, or short races, we add, when 
making the comparison of the woman's with tlie man's height, 8, 
7, or 5 per cent, to her measurement. Between individuals of the 
-same age, sex, and race, the height varies indefinitely. In fifty-five 
series in which we made the comparison, the difterence between the 
maximum and the minimum was from 9 to 39 centimetres. The 
difficulty is to distinguish those which are normal from those which 
-ought to be looked upon as dwarfs or giants, the. transition is so 
imperceptible. In more than 1,000,000 American soldiers, five 
were above 2*032 metres, and four below 1*244 metre; but the 
■averages are not affected in consequence of this, because the 
.abnormal cases have in all probability been equally distributed at 



Chap, v.] ITS VARIATIONS. 319 

the two extremities of the series. The only condition is that the 
series should be sufficiently numerous. External circumstances 
have a certain influence on the stature of the individual. Yillerme 
brought forward evidence to show that the stature w^as much 
higher previously to the year 1813 in the arrondissements of Paris, 
in consequence of the prosperous condition of the population. 
M. Gould also showed that the stature of American sailors is less 
than that of soldiers of the same race, who were better fed. 
Drs. Bertrand, Peruy, Mouille, and Leques point to poor countries 
where the stature is low, while close beside them, where the 
country is rich, it is high. D'Orbigny came to the conclusion, 
after examining a large number of Southerners of the United States, 
that the stature decreased with the latitude. Quetelet found that 
in, Belgium the townspeople are taller than the countryfolk ; and 
Dr. Beddoe proves the contrary to be the case in England : two 
facts which may be explained differently by different peoj)le. 
M. Durand (de Gros) states that in chalk districts the inhabitants are 
taller than in the districts of the primary rocks. But all these 
matters require further consideration. Sufficient account is not 
taken of the races which have been intermingled with the popu- 
lation in towns, in a way sometimes the most unexpected, and 
under a great variety of influences. One of the causes which 
Dr. Beddoe brings forward, with a view to explain his statement 
above referred to, is the varied influences which are at work among 
the population of towns. We should also consider whether the 
acquired diminution or increase in stature is not purely individual, 
as well as under what conditions and after how many generations 
the change would become hereditary and permanent. To the 
influence of external circumstances, mode of physical existence, and 
food, may be added that of health. It is absolutely invariable, 
provided that the morbid agencies are at work before the period 
when the epiphyses of the long bones are entirely welded to the 
diaphysis. This period is indicated in the table at page 140, but 
growth ought still to continue slowly and within certain limits, 
subsequently to this. The tardy term of thirty years, which we 
have indicated as one of growth, proves it. We should moreover 



320 STATURE IN YAEIOUS EACES. [Chap. v. 

ascertain if, Avlien the ossification and growth of tlie skeleton have 
been suspended, tlie work does not commence with, renewed activity,; 
and thus make up for lost time. The last influence which we shall 
notice is of more interest to us, namely, that of race. We shall confine 
ourselves to the male sex, on which our measurements are most 
usually made, and which furnishes us with examples in abundance. 
The extreme limit of stature among races, or rather among peoples, 
varies on the average from 1 "40 metre to about 1 '80, which makes 
the general average 1'60. Eut tall races are the more numerous, 
and the two or three whose stature is below the above limit are 
isolated, and are fast dying out. We may look upon 1'65 as the 
average stature, taking the entire population of the globe. We in 
Trance are thus exhibited in a favourable light, inasmuch as this is 
precisely our own mean stature. , 

This being established, races or peoples may be divided into 
four groups. (1) Yery tall, averaging 1*70 metre and upwards ; 

(2) Those above the middle height, from 1-70 to 1*65 inclusive; 

(3) Those below the middle height, from 1-65 to 1-60; (4) Those 
of low stature, below 1 '60. 

The following averages of stature are extracted from our " Etude ^' 
before referred to. They are sometimes those obtained from the 
traveller himself, sometimes from other sources, varying from 2 to 
15. The number of individuals in each series varies from 14 to 
30,000. 14 is certainly very few ; but in one such as the Yeddahs^ 
we may consider ourselves fortunate to be able to give even this 
number. 

MEN (averages). 

Very tall — 1'70 and above. 



Tehuelclies of Patagonia (6 series) 
Polynesians (15 series) 
Iroquois Indians (Gonld) 
Negroes of Guinea (4 series) 
Amaxosa Kaffirs (Fritscli) ... 
Australians (Topinard) 
Scandinavians (3 series) 
Scotch (2 series) 

English (3 series) 

Western Esquimaux (Beechey) 



1-781 
1-762 
1-735 
1-724 
1-71S 
1-718 
1-713 
1-710 
1-708 
1-703 



Chap, v.] STATUEE IN VARIOUS RACES. 321 

MEN (averages). 

Above the middle heiglit — from 1*70 to 1*65 inclusive. 

Irisli (2 series) 1-697 

Dombers and Vadagas of India (Shortt) 1-694' 

Danes (Beddoe) 1-685 

Belgians (Quetelet) .1 1*684 • 

Cbarruas (D'Orbigny) 1-680 

Arabs (3 series) 1*679 

Sagbalians (La Perouse) 1*678 

Germans (3 series) 1*677 

New Caledonians (Bourgarel) ... ... ... 1*670 

Peschernis of Tierra del Fuego (4 series) 1*664 

Kirghis (Prichard) 1*663 

Russians (4 series) ... ... ... ... ... 1*660 

Roumanians (2 series) 1*657 

Berbers (3 series) ... ... ... ... ... 1*655 

Esquimaux, central (5 series) 1*654 

Tribes of the east coast of India (3 series) . . . 1*652 

Aborigines of tbe Caucasus (Sbortt) 1*650 

French... 1*650 

Below the middle height — from 1*65 to 1*60 inclusive. 

Negroes of Algeria (Gillebert d'Hercourt) . . . 1*645 

Dra vidians and Hindoos (2 series) .. . ... ... 1*642 

Jews (Schultz) 1*637 

Magyars (Bernstein) ... r631 

Nicobarians (.?/'ouarra) ... ... ... ... 1*631 

Chinese (Novarra) ... ... ... ... ... 1*630 

British India beyond the Ganges (4 series) ... 1*622 

Araucanians and Botocudos (D'Orbigny) ... ... 1*620 

Sicilians (Lombroso) ... ... ... ... 1*618 

Fins 1*617 

Indo-Chinese (5 series) 1*615 

Peruvians (4 series) 1*600 

Low stature — below 1*60 exclusive. 

Malays (11 series) 1*596 

Australians of Port Jackson (Lesson) ... ... 1*575 

Tribes of Orissa — Indians (3 series) ... ... 1*569 

Kurnmbas of the Nilgherries (Shortt) ... ... 1*539 

Lapps (2 series) 1*536 

Papuans (Mayer) 1*536 

Veddahs (Bailey) ... 1*535 

Negritos (4 series) 1*478 

Bosjesmans (5 series) ... ... ... ... 1*404 

T 



322 STATUTE OF VARIOUS RACES. [Chap. v. 

The extremes are thus seen to be Patagonians and Eosjesmans. 
Two series, however, are not in the table, which might show this 
not to be so. The first, that of Humboldt, who assigns to the 
Caribs of the Orinoco a height of 1*84: metre; and the second, 
that of La Perouse, which gives the height of the Orotchys of the 
river Amour as 1-38 metre. But these extremes have not been 
confirmed by others, while those of the Patagonians and Eosjes- 
mans have been so by a host of travellers. 

In Africa two great negro races are distinguished by their 
height : one, the Kaffirs scattered at the south-east, and along the 
west coast of Congo to Senegal, and ... in America, to which they 
have been wafted by commerce ; the other represented by the Eos- 
jesmans to the north of the Orange River, the Obongos of Du 
Chaillu, and the Akkas of M. Schweinfiirth — the first very tall, the 
last very short. Among those of middle height may be placed 
Hottentots, which are nearer to the Eosjesmans, and perhaps 
another negro race in the Sahara zone. 

Oceania furnishes also some good examples of stature : on the 
east, the Polynesians are very tall ; on the west, the Malays are 
short, and the Negritos shorter still; in the centre, the N"ew 
Caledonians are much above the middle height. The Australians 
are divided into two races : the one short, which has disappeared ; 
the other tall, which is fast dying out. In Asia the general 
character is that of low stature, or below the middle height. It 
decreases in the north in Siberia, and in the south as we 
approach the Malaccas; increases in the centre, in the Japan 
Islands, in China, and as we advance towards the Himalayas and 
Turkistan. In India, particularly, many varieties of stature are to 
be met with : {a) TaU tribes, some wandering, others settled in the 
plains at the foot of the Mlgherry Hills and about the north-west 
angle ; (6) Tribes above and about the average, on the east coast ; 
(j) The Dravidians, below the average ; {d) Savage tribes, decidedly 
small ; and lastly (e) In the Mlgherries and Ceylon, tribes stiU 
smaller, as though the three races had become intermingled : the 
first, of whose nature we are ignorant, and which is represented by 



I 



€hap. v.] stature in FRANCE. 323 

the Dumbas ; the second of Mongolian origin ; the third "black, and 
probably aboriginal. 

In America, at the extreme north, we notice the Esquimaux, 
whose stature, we are told, is short in the east of Greenland, increases 
as we go west, and is tall in the neighbourhood of Behring's Straits. 
The inhabitants of both Xorth and South America are generally 
tall, which is not quite in accordance with the usually received 
opinion as to the Asiatic origin of Europeans. Two orders of 
peoples may be recognised among them, however : the one — and 
this constituting the majority — being very tall, from Patagonia to 
the Eiver Mackenzie ; the other being below the average height and 
thinly scattei^ed, notably in Vancouver's Island, and among the 
Crees in the north, and Peru in the south. , In Europe the tallest 
men are the I^orwegians, and the smallest the Lapps and — if we may 
include mummies in our measurements — certain of the ancient 
Guanches of the Canaries. In France two varieties of stature are 
to be seen : the one very tall, in the north ; the other below the 
middle height, in the south. 

The stature has only been studied in a direct manner either in 
individuals of all ages, or in those who have attained their maximum 
of growth. The most numerous statistics in Prance have reference 
to individuals under certain special circumstances, that is to say to 
conscripts from 20 to 21 years of age, from which Ave must subtract 
all those below 1'56 metre, and the infirm. Hence we have two 
kinds of averages which these statistics give, namely, the proportion 
of those annually rejected, that is to say those of low stature, and 
the average height of those remaining. M. Broca has published 
them for the whole of Prance, for each of its Departments, and for 
each of the Arrondissements of Brittany. He has given with his 
results — which are of the greatest interest — variously-coloured ma]3s. 
Boudin, on the other hand, has prepared a map — ^Avliich is less 
exact, but very interesting nevertheless — of the proportionate 
distribution of the statures of 1'732 metre and upwards in the 
various Departments. The researches of these two observers have 
been corroborated, and show that everywhere the numbers of high 

T 2 



324 STATURE IN FRAIS'CE. [Chap. v. 

and low statures are in an inverse ratio, giving at the same time 
the distribution of the two races to which these extremes correspond. 

In fine, the probable average stature, calculated with the greatest 
care, has varied in France annually, from the year 1836 to 1864, 
from 1-642 metre to 1*649 metre ; the general average throughout the 
twenty-eight years being 1 "646. This is somewhat under the mark, 
however, because the individuals to whom it refers had not reached 
their maximum. On the other hand, the proportion of conscripts 
rejected on account of being too short has varied, in the same 
years, from 101 to 162 per 1000 of those examined throughout 
the whole of France ; and in the Departments, in the entire period, 
from 24 per 1000 in the Doubs to 147 per 1000 in the Haute- 
Vienne. The proportion of tall statures leads to the same result : 
the tallest in France amount to 156 per 1000 conscripts in the 
Doubs, and the shortest 31-6 in the Haute- Vienne. JS'ow the Doubs, 
where there are so many tall statures and so few short, is the 
country of the ancient Burgundians ; and the Haute-Yienne, where 
it is just the reverse, that of the ancient Celts. 

At the bottom of the maps in question two distinct zones are 
draAvn, which are separated by an oblique or curved line, going 
from the Department of the Ain to the bay of St. Malo. On the 
north and east are the short statures, on the south and west the 
tall : the former inhabited by the ancient Kymris, Burgundians, 
and ISTormans ; the latter by the ancient Celts. Here and there, 
however, in the south and west, are portions of territory where 
the statures are tall. This is so in the neighbourhood of Toulouse, 
where the Yolkian Tectosages of the race of the Kymris located 
themselves; and along the banks of the Rhone and the shores of the 
Mediterranean, where there was a constant interchange between the 
Gauls on the north and the cisalpine Gauls. The map of Brittany 
shows the tall statures predominating in the north, along the coast 
where the Bretons, the ancient Belgian Kymris, landed from the 
island of Albion about the fifth century of our era ; and the low 
statures in the south and in the centre, where the Celts were 
previously repulsed. 

Similar statistics of stature have been published in other 



Chap, y.] MEASUREMENT OF THE HEAD. 325 

'Countries, as Italy, Spain, Bavaria, which have led us to the con- 
clusion that the stature increases generally in Europe from the 
north to the south, the two extreme points being represented hy 
]Nr orway and the islands of the Mediterranean, not taking into 
account the Lapps and the Fins, which form a distinct group. 
Apropos of stature, a particular method has been employed which 
many prefer to that of averages generally in use in craniometry, 
namely, the method of seriation, in which the individual figures are 
arranged in a scale, in groups from the minimum to the maximum, 
and the number of times noted that they are repeated in each 
group. Generally there is a regular increase from the extremities 
of the series towards the centre, where the character is found ex- 
pressed, not in the form of an average, but of a " median." Some- 
times there are two centres or two medians. M. Bertillon explains 
them by the mingling, without the complete fusion, of two races 
of opposite characters. Thus in the Doubs, where the position of 
the statures in the series gives rise to two medians, one to 1*635 
and the other to 1"732, the former would answer to the ancient 
Celtic Sequanians, the latter to the ancient Burgundians. This 
method, which indicates particularly the extent of individual 
variations, is very much adopted in England, and has been main- 
tained on the Continent by Quetelet and Bertillon.* 

Having now considered the stature, we may pass on to the 
measurement of the several parts of the body. The methods 
employed are similar to those in use for the skeleton, modified 
according to the accessibility of the measuring points {points de 
repere). We shall confine ourselves to the most important — to those 
which travellers are recommended to adopt — and shall commence 
with the head. 

Measurement of the Head. 
Here, as upon the skull, the measurements to be employed are 
of three orders, namely — {a) By straight lines, which we take 

"'^ " De la Methode en Anthropolgie," in "Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," vol. iv., 
1863 ; and article " Moyenne," in " Encyclopedie des Sciences Medicales," 
by M. Bertillon. 



326 MEASUREMENT OF THE HEAD. [C^ap,v, 

with the callipers and the sliding compass, and by curves, which 
require the measuring-tape ; (&) By projections, which are taken 
with the double square -, (e) By angles : cubic measurements of course 
are not made use of. The following is a list of those measiu!ements 
which are absolutely necessary to be taken, and the figures are 
those which we have recently obtained from an examination of a 
Chinese of 23 years of age : 

Maximum antero-posterior diameter, as on the 
skeleton, from the glabella to the maximum 
posterior point 196 mill. 

Maximum transverse diameter, as on the skeleton, 

above the ears ... ... ... ... ... 156 „ 

Length of the face from the inter- superciliary 
point to the superior alveolar point, between 
the middle incisor teeth, at their neck ... 91 „' 

Bizygomatic, or maximum transverse facial 

diameter ... ... ... ... ... ... 150' „ 

Height of the vertex above the ground (stature) 1'620 cent.. 
,, „ auditory meatus ... ... ... 1-457 ,, 

„ „ chin 1-373 „ 

Distance from the auditory meatus to the pos- 
terior plane ... ... ... ... ... 97 mill. 

Distance from the inter- superciliary point to ditto 192 „ 
„ „ of the superior alveolar point to do. 227 „ 

Erontal minimum, as on the skeleton ... ... 108 „ 

The first two measurements give the cephalic index on th-e^ 
living subject, which we must take care not to confound with 
that of the cranium. M. Broca found ^ in nineteen subjects wMch 
he measured, a difference in the former varying from - 0*65 to 
+ 5 "09, or an average of 1*68, which he attributes to the thickness 
and resistance of the soft parts, by which each diameter is increased, 
the transverse especially. He thinks that this difference ought to 
be greater on the living subject, and comes to the conclusion that, 
as a general rule, we should subtract two units from the index of 
the living subject to get that of the cranium. The index in forty- 

* " Comparaison des Indices Cephaliques sm- le Vivant et sur le Squelette," 
by M. Broca, in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 2nd series, vol. iii., 1868. 



Chap, v.] MEASUEEMENT OF THE HEAD. 327 

seven Basques from the neighbourhood of St. Jean de Luz, measured 
by M. Argellies, being 83-1, it would be 81 "1 on the cranium. 
The following are examples of the cephalic index from various 

authors : 

20 Negritos of Lii9on (Micklticho-Maclay) ... 88*5 (?) 

309 AuvergniaBS (Dnrand (de Gros) ) 84*6 

423 Bretons of tlie interior (Guibert) 84-9 

443 „ „ coast „ 83*0 

8 Fins (Beddoe) 83-7 

10 Euthenians, or Little Eussians (Kopernigki) ... 81"6 

28 Danes (Beddoe) 80-5 

10 English „ 78-1 

38 Swedes „ 78-8 

180 Berbers (various authors) ... ... ... 76*7 

47 Arabs „ 76-3 

7 Dravidians (Roubaud) ... ... ... ... 75*8 

6 Black Mundas of India (Eoubaud) ... ... 75'6 

The next two measurements in the list give the facial angle of 
M. Broca, that is to say, the relation of the simple length of the 
face to its bizygomatic breadth ; the differences as regards this 
index on the living subject have not yet been determined. 

A third index is the relation of the vertical projection of the 
head, expressed by the difference between the height of the vertex . 
and the height of the chin to the same bizygomatic breadth. This 
is the general index of the head. (See p. 274.) It corresponds with 
that which travellers express by the terms " long head," or '^ broad 
head," " long face," or " broad face." If we take the length of the 
face as = 100, it is because it has been so taken in the ordinary 
facial index. The last six measurements are by projections in rela- 
tion, not to the alveolo-condylean, or true horizontal plane of the 
skull, whose measuring points are out of reach, but to the plane of 
Camper, that is to say to the line passing over the auditory meatus 
and the base of the nares, which is the only convenient one, the 
one most easy to determine on the living subject. With the table 
at page 267, which gives the inclination of this plane in relation to 
the alveolo-condylean, it will always be possible to convert the 
projections, and even the angles relating to them, into equivalent 
measurements on the skull. 



328 METHOD OF PEOCEEDING. [Chap. v. 

The general method of proceeding is shown in Fig. 39. The 
individual is in an upright position against a wall, upon which 
a measuring-tape or a graduated rule is applied, whose zero is on 
the ground. The head looks straight forward, so that the 
horizontal line of Camper, passing across the auditory meatus and 
the base of the nares, is exactly perpendicular to the wall. A large 
sliding-square is moved up or down until the various measuring 



Fig. 39. — Position for taking projections of the head on the living subject. The line 
passing across the auditory meatus and the base of the nares, or Camper's line, 
represented by the upper border of the square, is exactly horizontal ; that is to say 
perpendicular to the posterior plane. A D, Projection of the entire head ; B D'= H D, 
The projection of the entire cranium; CD, Projection of the posterior cranixim; CH, 
Projection of the anterior cranium j AH, Projection of the nasal and supra-nasal 
portions of the face. 

points, such as the top of the head, auditory meatus, &c., are 
reached ; a second, smaller one, at right angles, is applied upon it at 
the measuring points Avhich are otherwise inaccessible, as the supra- 
orbital, the alveolar, the mental points, &c. The heights above the 
ground are read off on the wall ; and on the sliding-square, which is 
graduated, the horizontal distances in front of the posterior plane, 
these distances being directly visible, or indicated by the heel of the 



Chap, v.] PROJECTIONS OF THE HEAD. 329 

smaller square. In Fig. 39 the small square, wliicli is held in the 
hand, has been left, out so as not to interfere with the drawing. 
Shoidd the posterior part of the head not touch the wall, something 
must be intervened, the thickness of which must be deducted from 
each horizontal measurement. It is absolutely necessary that 
during the various measurements the individual should be motion- 
less, and that the auriculo-sub-nasal line determined by the large 
sliding-scpiare shoidd be perfectly horizontal, ^ill the principal 
elements of the proportions of the head are then obtained : namely, 
the vertical projection of the entire head; the horizontal projection 
of the skull (B J)', Fig. 39) ; the particidar projections of the 
jDosterior cranium (C D) ; of the anterior (H C) ; and of the nasal 
and supra-nasal portion of the face. In the same way we get the 
elements of the facial angle of Camper : that is to say the line H C, 
the line A H, the perpendicular B H to theu' intersection H, and 
consequently the position of the point B. We have then only to 
draw the triangle on paper and measure the angle B A C with the 
protractor. 

It is needless to say that by this method of the double square in, 
combination with the attitude indicated, we may take a number of 
other projections, according to the object we have in view. (Fig. 40.) 

Other measurements in connection with the face are not without 
interest. Thus there are three for the nose, of which we shall sjoeak 
when giving the descriptive characters of this organ. There are 
also several for the mouth, the eyes, and the ears. Subjoined are 
some obtained by Quetelet on Belgians of the male sex, from 
25 to 30 years of age, which may be usefully compared mth those 
given at page 317. The stature is taken as = 100. 

From tlie vertex to the line of the tair ... ... 2'5 

„ line of the hair to the root of the nose . . . 4*3 

,, root of the nose to its base ... ... 3*0 

„ base of the nose to the chin ... ... 3'9 

Total from the vertex to the chin (head) ... ... 13'7 

Length of the eye ... ... ... ... ... 1*8 

Breadth between the eyes ... ... ... ... 2-1 

,, of the nose at the base ... ... ... 2'1 

Length of the month ... ... ... ... ... 3*2 

,, ,, ear 37 



330 



PKOPOKTIONS OF THE FACE. 



[Chap. v. 



These are manifestly at variance with those laid down by Art, 
and we have been obliged to give them approximately only. But 
they refer exclusively to Belgians, and it would be necessary that 
the same proportions should be established with reference to all 
races as well as to their individual variations. Then artists should 
know the physiological limits beyond which they ought not to go. 




Fig. 40. — Median facial goniometer of M. Broca, in position for taking the facial angle of 
Jacquart, whose apex is at the svib-nasal point. The two auricular pins, 0, being in 
place, the point A being on the superior alveolar point, and the branch K B being 
placed in its proper position, the instrument also gives the angle of Cloquet. 



To speak only of the head : Gerdy asserts that its measurement is 
commonly limited to 1*11 and 1*33 per cent, of the statm^e : but he 
made his measurements in Paris, where there is a mixture of long 
and short heads ; while Quetelet made them upon individuals of 
the Kymri race, that is to say on the long heads, proving the 
numerous types of proportions. 



Chap, v.] MEASUREMENT OF THE BODY. 331 



Measurement of the Body. 

Measurements of the head and body so nearly correspond that, 
subject to certain corrections, we may generally make a direct com- 
parison between them. It is not so with those of the body alone, 
Avhich often differ altogether from those of the skeleton. Owing to 
the necessity there is to appeal to the kindness of travellers, and 
these sometimes not the most experienced, the Instructions generally 
prescribe, not the most logical measuring points, but those which are 
most easily found. 

Thus in the wrist, in default of the articular line, the exact posi- 
tion of which requires some surgical knowledge, we require the point 
of the styloid process. At the inferior extremity of the humerus, 
in default still of the line of separation between it and the radius, wo 
take the epicondyle. At the knee, in default of the same line of 
separation between the tibia and femur, most people are satisfied 
with the centre of the patella. 

In order, therefore, that anthropometry on the living subject may 
be as practically useful as possible, it is necessary to have rules for 
converting the simple measurements recommended, into strictly 
anatomical ones. Tor example, by adding seven millimetres to the 
length of the hand, we should have its true length on the skeleton ; 
by subtracting twelve millimetres from the length of the leg, 
stretched out in obedience to the Instructions, we get the length of 
the tibia without the malleolus ; that is to say such as we make 
it in our calculations for determining the proportions of the 
skeleton. Again, one of the principal objections to the measure- 
ment of the thigh, or of the entire lower limb, is our inability to 
take its true upper extremity, that is to say the head of the 
femur, which lies out of reach in its cavity. In default of this we 
have occasionally taken the anterior superior spine of the ilium, 
the great trochanter, the pubis, and the perinaeum; but it would 
not be difficult to correct these measurements. A series of investiga- 
tions — which we do not put forward as being strictly accurate — have 
led us to think that in the adult European of the male sex and of 



332 METHOD OF PEOCEEDING. [Chap. v. 

middle height, these various points and the head of the femur may 
be arranged in the following order : From the spine of the ilium to 
the head of the femur, 6 centimetres; from this to the great 
trochanter, 2 '3; from the great trochanter to the pubis, 2*0; from 
the pubis to the perineeum, 4*7. The following are the rules for 
converting each of the measurements of the thigh, or of the 
entire limb, into anatomical measurements of the femur : 

Mllimfetres, 
Commencing from the spine of the ihum, subtract ... 60 
„ „ great trochanter, add... ... 23 

„ „ pubis, add ... ... ... 43 

J, „ peringgum, add... ... ... 90 

These dimensions answer for statures of 1*650 millimetre. When 
the individual or the race is taller or shorter, by a simple rule-of- 
three sum we get the proportionate amount which should be added 
or subtracted. Independently of the measuring points, which it. is 
recommended to look for, and to mark with coloured chalk before 
commencing our operations, the calculation of the anthropometrical 
measurements is simple enough. The individual is placed with his 
back against a wall, in the same Avay as for the measurement of the 
head, in the attitude of a soldier standing at attention, the feet 
together, the arms hanging down, with the hands extended on the 
tliigh. By the double square we then take the height of each point 
above the ground. The least asymmetry of the body, the slightest 
separation of the limbs or unevenness of the hips would give rise to 
considerable mistakes. The difference between the length of the arm 
in the above attitude, and of the same in complete abduction, may be 
as much as two or three centimetres, which arises from the head 
of the humerus sinking deep into the armpit, and shortening the 
limb that much. In the lower extremity, when the superior point 
is taken from the pelvis, the difference is still greater. The em- 
ployment of a tape for directly measuring the exact distance from 
one point to another, by following the contour of the limb, is inexact ; 
the line is not only oblique, but also convex, owing to the projection 
of the muscles : two causes which contribute to elongate it. The 
following are the most important measurements recommended in the 



Chap, v.] PEINCIPAL MEASUEEMENTS. 333 

"Instructions dela Societe d'Antliropologie," and the corresponding 
dimensions obtained by M. Gillebert d'Hercourt on eighteen Arabs and 
ten negroes of Algeria. To obtain the length of a part, one measure 
must be subtracted from another. The height of the epicondyle 
being 1057 millimetres in the negro, and that of the styloid process 
of the radius 795, the forearm will be 262 millimetres ; which rela- 
tively to the total height will be expressed by 189 "2, and would 
then be compared with the same value in the Arab. 

Height above the gTOund. 
From the vertex (stature) 

,, acromion (scapula)... 

„ epicondyle (external tuberosity of the 

humerus at its inferior border) 
„ styloid process of the radius 
„ inferior extremity of the middle finger . . . 
„ great trochanter (superior border) 
„ articular interspace of the knee (outside) 
„ internal malleolus (point) .. . 

Breadth. 
Grande envergure 
From one acromion to the other (point) 

„ the crest of one ilium to the other (maximum) 
Length of foot .. . 

We may add two other measurements, on account of their sim- 
plicity and readiness of application. The first is the length of the 
trunk, one of the most important in anthropometry to determine. 
We take the distance from the prominent spinous process of the 
seventh cervical vertebra to the point of the sacrum or coccyx ; or 
that of the clavicle, or the sternal fourchette, to the pubis or 
perinseum : but these present some difficulties. By following the 
" Instructions de la Societe d' Anthropologic," this measurement is 
indirectly obtained in many ways. The method we recommend is. 
direct, and is easy of application among savages, who are not 
frightened by it. The second measurement was devised by the 
Americans during the War of Secession, and was suggested by a. 
weU-known comparison (see page 85) which Mr. Huxley makes 
between Man and the anthropoids. These measurements are : The;. 



18 Arabs. 


10 Negroes. 


1-666 


... 1-645 


1-374 . 


., 1-352 


1-067 . 


.. 1-057 


0-804 . 


.. 0-795 


0-619 . 


.. 0-601 


0-877 , 


... 0-875 


0-464 . 


.. 0-458 


0-780 . 


.. 0-740 


1-757 . 


.. 1-704 


0-372 . 


.. 0-372 


0-281 . 


.. 0-255 


0-259 . 


.. 0-253 



334 



GRANDE ENVERGURE. 



[Chap. v. 



lieiglit of the foiircliette of the sternum above the ground, the 
individual being seated on the ground with the trunk upright, and 
breathing quietly : 

The distance of the extremity of the middle finger in the 
ordinary vertical attitude from the upper border of the patella, the 
muscles of the thigh being flaccid. ]N'ow let us proceed to the 
application : 

The relative height of the head, of the length of the neck, and 
the height of the trunk, to the stature, are the three primary 
elements of the proportions of the body which we have to determine. 
Setting aside the essential proportions of the head and the pelvis, we 
shall presently have to speak of the dimensions of the various parts 
of the trunk. Then come the proportions of the extremities. There 
are two methods by which we may at once ascertain the relative 
length of the upper extremities : namely, the grande envergure (see 
page 84), and the distance from the middle finger to the patella. 

The grande envergure is taken with two squares, the back of the 
individual resting against a wall. The following are some of its 
averages relatively to stature = 100 : 



0,876 American soldiers (Gould) 


.. 104-3 


306 English (Gould) 




.: 104-4 


81 Scotcli 




.. 104-9 


827 Irish 




.. 104-6 


562 Germans „ 




.. 105-2 


2020 Negroes „ 




.. 108-1 


863 Mulattoes „ 




.. 108-1 


517 Iroquois Indians 


(Gould) 


.. 108-9 


30 Belgians (Quetelet) 


.. 104-5 


20 Berbers (various 


authors) 


.. 104-2 


27 Arabs , 




.. 101-3 



It follows then that the envergure is manifestly greater than the 
stature, except in individual cases, where it is frequently less, and 
also that it is notably greater in negroes, mulattoes, and Iroquois 
Indians, than in whites ; this arising from the length of their upper 
extremities. 

The distance from the middle finger to the patella is given in the 
four following series of Mr. Gould, the stature = 100 : 



Chap, v.] PROPOETIONS OF THE EXTREMITIES. 335 

10,876 American soldiers 7*49 

517 Iroquois Indians 5*36 

2020 Negroes 4-37 

863 Mulattoes 6'13 

The more the distance diminishes in these cases, the greater is 
the length of the upper extremities. The arm then is shortest in 
whites, longest in negroes, and intermediate in length in mulattoes. 
This verifies Mr. Humphry's statement that the upper extremities 
of the skeleton of the negro are longer than those of the European. 
Now this result is clear from the ahove statistics, and does not vary 
in any of the seventeen series of whites and the eight of negroes of 
which they are composed. Frequently, in the latter, the extremity 
of the middle finger touched the patella ; once it was twelve mille- 
metres below its upper border, as in the gorilla. 

With respect to the proportions of the extremities, there are three 
relations which have specially engaged the attention of authors : 
(1) That of the superior to the inferior extremity apart from the 
hand and foot ; (2) That of the forearm to the arm ; and (3) That 
of the leg to the thigh. We shall select some examples from 
the Novarra measurements, which were made by very experienced 
physicians, and on races very dissimilar to one another. There is 
only one fault to be found with them — namely, that they were 
taken with the measuring-tape : 



Forearm and arm 


Forearm 


Leg to 


to leg and thigh. 


to arm. 


thigh. 


30 Germans ... 69-9 


83-5 


99-4 


20 Slavs ... 69-7 


86-8 


99-8 


10 Roumanians . . . 68-4 


88-3 


99-4 


26 Chinese ... 75-6 


84-5 


. 101-1 


34 Nicobarians ... 76*2 . . 


83-8 


. 111-1 


9 Javanese ... 735 


86-4 


. 107-0 


2 NewZealanders 78-0 


82-9 


96-5 


1 Australian ... 78"3 


90-3 


. 109-6 



This shows : (a) That in the first relation there are very decided 
differences, the three series of Avhites having the upper extremity 
relatively short, the three other series, especially the II^Tew Zealanders 
and the Australian, relatively long; (h) That the proportion between 



336 



PROPOETIOXS OF THE HAND AND FOOT. [Chap. v. 



the forearm and the arm, contrary to what we should have expected, 
does not show any very sensible difference, except in the Australian, 
where the forearm is the longer, as in the African negro ; (c) That 
the relation of the leg to the thigh is found to possess great im- 
portance, the leg being short in the three series of whites and in 
the l^ew Zealanders, and long in the others, except the Australian. 
We see the contra'st between the 'New Zealanders and the Australian ; 
the latter being simian in all the three relations, if we accept 
Dr. Humphry's opinion as to the tibia, the former only being so 
as regards his upper extremity, and approaching the European as 
to his forearm and leg. 

The proportions of the foot and hand will now engage our 
attention. In the following averages, the stature being =100, the 
square has been employed by M. Gillebert d'Hercourt and others, 
and the tape by M. Wiesbach, of the Novarra, by Quetelet and 
Eourgarel. We need not, however, take any account of the slight 
differences in consequence. 



10 Kourouglis of Algeria (Gillebert d'Hercourt) 9*9 

10 Negroes of Algeria ,, 

27 Arats of Algeria (various authors) 

86 Berbers (various) ... 

50 Belgians (Quetelet) 

30 Germans (Novarra) 

20 Slavs „ 

10 Roumanians ,, 

26 Chinese „ 

53 Nicobarians „ 

23 Todas, a superior tribe of the Nilgherries 

(Shortt) 

50 Aborigines, inferior tribes of the Nil- 
gherries (Shortt) 

12 New Caledonians 

10,876 White soldiers (Gould) 

2020 Negroes „ 

863 Mulattoes „ 

517 Iroquois Indians „ ... 



Hand. 


Foot. 


) 9-9 . 


.. 14-2 


10-8 . 


.. 15-3 


11-1 . 


.. 13-4- 


11-1 . 


.. 15-4 


11-5 ., 


.. 15-4 


12-2 . 


.. 151 


12-7 .. 


. 15-3 


11-5 .. 


,. 14-8 


12-8 .. 


. 15-9 


13-1 .. 


. 16-2 



11-8 



18-1 



10-8 . 


.. 15-3 


12-8 . 


.. 15-6 


12-8 . 


.. 14-9 


12-8 . 


.. 160 


12-8 . 


.. 15-7 


12-8 .. 


.. 14-8 



What conclusion are we to draw from this 1 In the first place, 
that the hand and the foot of man, although shorter than tlioso of the 



Chap, v.] PROPORTIONS OF THE HAND AND FOOT. 337 

anthropoid ape, do not vary among races according to their order of 
superiority, as Ave should have supposed. A long hand or foot is 
not a characteristic of inferiority. One would say that the 
Germans and Slavs of M. Wiesbach have a hand larger and more 
simian in character than the negroes of Algeria, and more nearly 
resembling that of the negroes of Oceania. Of the two distinct 
tribes inhabiting the IS'ilgherries, in Southern India, the inferior 
has the smaller hand. As regards the foot, it is true the negroes of 
America are between the whites and the anthropoids in, the same 
way as mulattoes are between them and whites. We are unable to 
form any definite opinion on this point with respect to the Bosjes- 
man, the ISTegrito, and the Australian, from lack of documentary 
evidence. It seems that the Australian has the usual-sized hand, 
while the foot is extraordinarily long. 

In defaidt of a general character, this measurement gives us a 
special diiferential character between certain races. The Mcobarians 
have both upper and lower extremities very powerfully developed. 
The Arabs and Berbers have the same average hand, but the foot 
of the former is small, while that of the latter is large. The hand 
of the Kourouglis is remarkably small, and the foot of the To das 
monstrously large. It is curious to compare the two general 
averages of the same proportions of the stature as recognised in the 
Arts, which are expressed below in hundredths. That of Albert 
Diirer, it appears, was the nearest in results to our own. 

Our general average 

Greeks 

Vitruvius ... 

Albert Diirer 

Shadow ... 

Carus 

Gerdy 

We are met at the commencement of our study of the propor- 
tions of the body with the fact that they differ considerably in 
each race, without the superiority of rank which such race takes en- 
abling us to guess the meaning of such differences. Each race, 
M. Wiesbach says, has its share of characteristics of inferiority, and 



Hand. 


Foot. 


11-7 


.. 15-4 


10-9 


.. 14-9 


10-0 


.. 16-7 


11-1 


.. 15-2 


10-6 


.. 15-2 


10-5 


.. 15-8 


111 


.. 16-6 



338 MEASUREMENTS OF BREADTH. [Chap. v. 

tlie resemblance to the ape is not confined to any race in particular. 
It is true that the learned anthropologist of the Novarra refers to 
the proportions of the orang, and the question is whether some 
races approximate in these to certain anthropoids and others to 
others. It is certain that there are human types which differ in 
the proportions of the skeleton, hut these are not yet settled. 

Besides the measurements of length, there are those of breadth, 
and those of volume as estimated by the circumference. Thus (a) The 
relation of the breadth of the foot and hand to their length (this 
breadth being taken, in both cases, by projection with the square 
commencing from the head of the fifth metatarsal or metacarpal 
bone, and crossing the great axis of the organ at a right angle; 
(&) The relation of the maximum breadth of the hips, at a level 
with the great trochanter, to the maximum breadth of the pelvis 
over the crests of the ilia ; (c) The corresponding relation, at the 
other extremity of the trunk, of the maximum breadth of the 
shoulders at the external surface of the deltoid muscle to the 
biacromial breadth ; (d) The relation of these various diameters with 
the breadth of the thorax from one armpit to the other (taken with 
two squares). 

The biacromial breadth, the measuring points of which are more 
anatomical, has been measured with the tape, by passing it in front 
of and behind the neck, and with the double square. Subjoined are 
some averages obtained by the only exact method of proceeding. 



18 Arabs (Grillebert d'Hercourt) 

13 Kabyles „ 

18 Negroes of Algeria (Gillebert d'Hercourt) 
27 Annamites (Mondieres) ... 

14 „ women (Mondieres) 



Stature = 100. 
21-1 
22-7 
22-6 
21-0 
20-4 



In order to show the differences between them, we give the same 
measurement by the tape. 

stature = 100. 
25 Belgians (Quetelet) 23*4 

25 „ women (Quetelet) 22-0 

26 Chinese {mvarra) 25*2 

9 Javanese „ 24-0 

8 „ women Qilovarrd) ... 23*8 



Chap, v.] CIECUMFEEENCES. 339 

It will be observed^ that in tlie Belgians, the Javanese, and the 
Annamites, the biacromial diameter is smaller in the woman. 

The circumferences are generally bad measurements, because they 
vary according to the development of the muscles, the fat, and the 
subjacent organs. Moreover, the relation of the maximum circum- 
ference of certain articulations with those of the maximum enlarge- 
ments of the parts situated above and below, shows whether the 
articulations are large or small. The relations of the minimum 
circumferences at the bottom of the leg, and the maximum above, 
gives the development of the calf, which is a characteristic of 
superiority in the white race relatively to the negro races, whose 
spindle leg resembles that of apes. The relation of the circum- 
ference of the hips or the chest with the circumference at the waist 
marks all the intermediate gradation between the Avasp figure 
(taille de rfuej^e) of the woman, and the trunk all of a size {tronc 
tout cVune venue) of the man in general and of the Andaman race in 
particular {De Quatrefages). 

The circumference of the chest has received a considerable 
amount of attention, but more in reference to the capacity of the 
pulmonary cavity according to race. It has an interest not only 
for art and for anthropology, but also for medicine, as a diagnostic 
of disease. We shall again refer to this later on, when speaking 
of physiological characters.* 

* See, for the measurements on living subjects, *'Des Eaces de TOceanie 
Frangaise," by A. Bourgarel, in " Mem. Soc. d'Anthrop.," vol. ii,, 1861 ; 
"Eeise der Oesterreichischen Fregatte Novarra um die Erde in den Jahren 
1857-59," " Anthropologischer Theil," by Drs. Scherzer, Schwartz, and 
Wiesbach, Wien, 1867 ; " Investigation on American Soldiers," by B. Gould, 
New York, 1869; " L'Anthropometrie," by Quetelet, Brussels, 1870; 
" Etudes sur Soixante-seize Indigenes de I'Algerie," by Gilleberfc d'Hercourt, 
in "Mem. Soc. d'Anthrop.," vol. iii. ; "Eapport sur la Mensuration de Cent 
Indigenes, de Biskra by Dr. Seriziat," by Dr. Topinard, in " Bull. Soc. 
d'Anthrop.," 2nd series, vol. v., 1870 ; " Sur les Kabyles du Djurjura," by 
Duhousset, in "Mem. Soc. Ethn,," 1872; "Note sur I'Anthropologie de 
la Eace Annamite," by A. T. Mondieres, in " Mem. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 2nd 
series, vol. i., 1875 ; &c. 



DESCEIPTIVE CHAEACTERS. [Chap. vi. 



CHAPTEK VI. 

DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS COLOUR OF THE SKIN, EYES, AND HAIR 

CHARACTERS OF THE HAIR — PHYSIOGNOMY FORM OF THE 

FACE, NOSE, MOUTH, AND EARS — EXTERNAL GENITAL ORGANS 

TABLIER AND STEATOPYGA. 

Descriptive Characters. 

The white races personally studied by anthropologists constituting 
only a fraction of the human family, the description of' outward 
characters comes to us principally from travellers : they furnish the 
details which we embody. But accompanying their descriptions, 
traced as they may be with a masterly hand, we too frequently find 
simple detached phrases which must be explained, respecting which 
opinions, varying according to the mood of the individual, have 
been substituted for plain facts. A traveller arrives in the midst 
of a savage tribe, and depicts it in colours of the most hideous 
kind ; as he proceeds with his account, having become familiarised 
with it, he looks at it in quite another light : the two descriptions 
are at variance with one another. One could hardly imagine the 
contrary impressions given by the nude, hunchbacked, shambling 
savage, like the Australians of Port Eoyal, which Poron and 
Dumont d'Urville met with, and the same bold and menacing 
creature, with head erect and cambered loins, armed with his 
shield and lance. You look at the former as a most disgusting 
object, with his thin and lean and disproportionate limbs, and his 
forbidding countenance ; at the latter as the very impersonification 
of the ancient gladiator, whose figure recalls the most beautiful 
antique marbles. This kind of contradiction, as found in the 
traveller's diary, is not confined to individuals of the same race : 
the Bosjesmans, the Esquimaux, the people of Tierra del Euego 
come in for their share. As regards the female it is worse still. 
According to the mental impression created at the time, one will 
be represented as having hideous simian features, another, of the 



Chap, vi.] DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 341 

same age and of the same tribe, as liaving a pleasing countenance. 
The Bosjesman woman produces this kind of impression upon the 
European. Hence the anthropologist's earnest desire to be fur- 
nished with definite facts, and not with exaggerated descriptions. 

In matters of detail it is the same, and one is deceived even as 
regards prognathism, the form of the nose, the colour of the skin, 
and the character of the hair. There is no doubt that the appel- 
lation "aquiline" has been given to flat noses, which when looked at 
in profile exhibited a slight convexity. It is thus that in Australia 
all imaginable types, even the Caucasian, have been described. After 
a most attentive perusal of accounts given of the hair, in which even 
its physical characters have not been neglected, we are often obliged 
to pause to inquire whether the hair, which has been spoken of a 
dozen times, is straight or woolly. Humboldt mentions that to 
those who had newly arrived in South America, all the Indians 
seemed to be alike, but that after a certain time their diversity of 
feature appeared as remarkable as among Europeans. In estimating 
colour, the most egregious errors are committed. In the midst of 
blacks the mulatto would appear white. It is not that the traveller is 
deceived in this matter ; but he gradually alters his opinion, and his 
estimate from being relative becomes absolute. The French people 
look upon the EngKsh as fair, but they consider themselves dark ; 
this is because the French compare the English with themselves, and 
we compare ourselves with inhabitants of the north. Dr. Beddoe has 
especially drawn attention to this kind of error. Dr. Livingstone, 
referring to the negroes of the coast, continually speaks of those to 
the west of Lake Tanganyka, and especially Cazemba, as liaving fair 
skin, but slight prognathism, and a Caucasian nose ; in short, with 
as fine heads as are to be found among Europeans. Eor these 
numerous sources of error, we do not say for the practised anthro- 
pologist, but for the ordinary traveller, there is but one remedy, 
namely, not to trust to his o^vii impressions, but to confine himself to 
making use of tables for the colour of the skin as well as for the 
hair, and as far as possible for measurements. The index of breadth 
of the nose gives us more information on the subject than all the 
roundabout descriptions. We return therefore to the anthropo- 



342 LUMBO-SACEAL ENSELLUEE. [Chap. vi. 

logical instructions, circulated by various societies and printed in 
many languages.* 

Liimho-Sacral Ensellure. 

Among tlie descriptive characters, some are only supplementary 
to the observations of the preceding chapter on the proportions of 
the body, {a) The development of the muscles, or of the fat, when 
it is peculiar to the race and not to the individual ; (h) The develop- 
ment of the region of the buttocks, of which we shall speak pre- 
sently ; (c) The development of the abdomen, which may sometimes 
be a character of race, but is most frequently caused by living 
habitually on vegetable food, and by irregular diet : thus, savages 
go many days without food, or nearly so, and then for twenty-four 
or forty-eight hours gorge themselves to repletion ; (d) Lastly, the 
degree of inflection of the two spinal curvatures, the one the lumbo- 
sacral, to which Duchenne de Boulogne gives the name ensellure , 
the other dorsal, each being compensatory to the other. The former, 
having the concavity posteriorly, is enlarged in certain races, and 
diminished in others. " I have seen," says Duchenne de Boulogne, 
^' Spanish ladies whose lumbar incurvation was such, and the move- 
ment of the lumbar muscles so extensive, that they were able to 
throw themselves backwards so as almost to touch the ground." 
He has met with the same thing among the women of Lima, and 
of Portel, near Boulogne. 

Colour of STvin, Hair, and Eyes. 

The colour of the skin, hair, and eyes is the result of a general 
phenomenon in the organism, namely, the production and distribu- 

* See "Instructions Generales adresses aux Voyageurs," in " Mem. Soc. 
Etli. de Paris," vol. i., 1841 ; "Instructions Generales de la Soc. d'Anthrop. 
de Paris," drawn up bj M. Paul Broca, Paris, 1865, 2nd edition in the press ; 
" Notes and Queries on Anthrop.," published by the British Association for 
the Advancement of Science, London, 1874 ; " Anleitung zu Wissen- 
schaftlichen Beobachlungen auf Eeisen," Berlin, 1875, the anthropological 
portion by E. Virbhow ; " Instructions Generales aux Voyageurs " of the 
Geographical Society of Paris, 1875, anthropological portion by M. de 
Quatrefages. 



Chap. VI.] COLOUR OF THE SKIN. 343 

tion of the colouring matter. Tlie skin of tlie Scandinavian is 
white, almost without colour, or rather rosy and florid, owing to the 
transparency of the epidermis allowing the red colouring matter of 
the blood to be seen circulating through the capillaries. After 
haemorrhage or in ana3mia, the amount of globules, which is normally 
rather over twelve per cent., may descend to two per cent., the 
smallest known ; the blood has then lost five-sixths of its colouring 
matter ; the surface of the body becomes pallid and has a waxy 
tint. ^ 

The skin of the negro of Guinea, and especially of YolofF, the 
darkest of all, is, on the contrary, jet black, which is caused by the 
presence in the minute cellules on the deep surface of the epidermis 
of black granules, known by the name of pigment. The black 
layer thus formed by these cellules, which used to be called the 
veto mucosum of Malpighi, remains adherent sometimes to the 
dermis and sometimes to the epidermis on removing the latter, after 
previously submitting the skin to maceration. This pigment is 
found in all races, whether black, yellow, or white, but in very 
different quantity ; hence their various tones of colour, from the 
lightest to the darkest. Whites, who readily become broAvn on 
exposure to light, are undoubtedly provided with it. It is always 
more abundant in the scrotum and round the nipple. It is very 
visible on the mucous membranes of negroes, ^vhich are frequently 
surrounded by masses of it, notably on the vault of the palate, the 
gums, and the conjunctiva, which we have also met with in young 
orangs. The same pigment is found in all races on the internal 
surface of the choroid, sometimes in the lungs, and, among negroes, in 
the brain. The colouring matter of the hair resembles it very much. 
The disease described at page 161, under the name of "albinism," 
is owing to its diminished quantity in the skin, as well as in the 
choroid and in the hair. It may be seen in all races, but it is 
necessarily more observable in those in which the pigment is more 
abundant. Besides the red colouring matter of the blood, and the 
black colouring matter of the skin and the choroid, we must mention 
a third, biliverdin, which is secreted in the liver, and to which the 
yellow colour of the tissues in jaundice is due. This also gives the 



344 COLOUE OF THE SKIN. [Chap. vi. 

yellowish, colour of th.e cellulo-adipose tissue, of the muscles, and of 
the blood, which is so often met with when making autopsies of 
negroes. Is not this colouring matter a transformation, an altered 
condition of the coloimng matter of the blood, or of the pigment 1 
Chemists must answer the question. We may remark that the 
shades of colour in the mixed breeds, between the negro and the 
white, partake more of the yellow than the red tint. 

The last vestiges of a mixture of breed returning towards the 
white, are the yellow colour of the sclerotic, and the lunule of the 
nails : the latter sign is well known among American Creoles. 

There are then three fundamental elements of colour in the 
human organism : namely, the red, the yellow, and the black, which, 
mixed in variable quantity with the white of the tissues, give rise 
to those numerous shades seen in the human family, which it would 
be impossible to enumerate. We may, however, reduce them to 
four fundamental types, which the first anthropologists expressed in 
these terms : namely, the white in Europe, the yellow in Asia, the 
red in America, and the black in Africa. The white and black 
there can be no doubt about; they correspond to two of the 
primordial divisions of the human race. The two others are less 
definite, the red especially. From their mixture and the influence 
of external conditions issue all the shades of colour which we now 
see. In the white there is every variety of shade. The rosy com- 
plexion' of Scandinavians difi'ers from the florid complexion of the 
English and Danes. The dark colour of our French races to the 
south of the Loire is not that of Spaniards, nor of the bronzed 
Kabyles. There are at least two groups in the series : namely, those 
.whose skin easily becomes dark, sometimes enormously so, from the 
contact of air and light, and is uniform; and those whose skin when 
exposed to the sun becomes brick-red, or covered with freckles. 
Among the former especially, this colour becomes less in winter, 
and disappears on a return to temperate or cold countries, readily 
making its appearance again in hot countries. In the latter a sort 
of burn is produced, the skin becoming chajpped and excoriated. 
In either case, children are born white. The French in Algeria, 
and the English in India, furnish us with abundant examples of 



€hap. VI.] COLOUR OF THE SKIN. 345 

this. The yellow tint of eastern Asiatics varies even more. Some- 
times it approaches that of the white, so as to be indistinguishable 
from it ; at others, it is olive green, passing through all the inter- 
mediate shades from pale yellow to brown or gingerbread colour. 
Among the Chinese, those of the north more particularly, it becomes 
dark in winter, as in the first group above alluded to, and pale in 
summer (Lamprey). 

The term "red" has been applied to the American Indians less on 
account of this being their ordinary colour than of their dyeing the 
hair and painting the skin red. All shades of colour are seen 
among them, from the light tint of the Antisians of the Central 
Andes to the dark olive of the Peruvians {D' Orhigny), and the 
negro black of the ancient Californians {La Pctousg). They are 
frequently, however, said to be copper or cinnamon coloured. This 
copper colour is common in Polynesia, where very light yellow or 
brown tints are as frequently met Avith. In Africa, red and yellow 
are very common, particularly in the south, the centre, and towards 
the Upper Nile. The Foulbas are of a rhubarb-yellow colour, 
those of pure blood approaching to red. The Bisharis are very 
frequently of a mahogany red. We know that the ancient 
Egyptians were painted red on their tombs. The classification of 
olden times in which the red colour Avas said to be peculiar to the 
American Indians is therefore incorrect. 

If negroes are, as regards colour, so widely separated from whites, 
they insensibly blend with the yellow or the red in many purts of 
Africa. The most decided blacks are those of the Coast of Guinea, 
but from the Yoloff to the Mandingo and the Ashanti there is 
every variety of shade. In South Africa, the Hottentots, and 
especially the Bosjesmans, are not black, but of a yellow-gray, 
like old leather. On the Gaboon, the Obongos seen by Du Chaillu 
were also -of a dirty-yellow colour. We speak of the red Kaffirs. 
Among the Makololos of the Zambesi, and the Pans of Burton, 
many were the colour of cafe au lait. The expressions "light brown," 
" light colour," are frequently applied to the negroes of Lualaba in 
Livingstone's " Last Journal," but are they not so relatively to the 
surrounding peoples 1 The black colour of the skin is met with in 



346 COLOUR OF THE EYES. [Chap, vi, 

other countries besides Africa, as among the Australians, and the 
straight-haired blacks of India — one of whom, of an intense black 
slightly mixed with red, was dissected in M. Broca's laboratory— 
also among the black Arabs of the Yemen, or Hymiarites, &c. In 
the same way that whites become dark by being removed into hot 
countries, blacks become lighter in cold and temperate countries, as 
well as when suffering from illness. Dark colour in the negro is a 
sign of health. 

The colour of the skin is usually, we might say constantly, 
associated, if the races are pure, with a certain colour of the eyes 
and hair. Thus, those with white skins of a rosy hue, which 
cannot bear the sun, have usually light eyes and hair. Those with 
white skins, which readily tan with the sun, and those with yellow, 
red, or black skins have on the contrary dark hair. Light hair 
and eyes are much more rare, although they are met with to some 
extent everywhere throughout the globe, except in Australia and 
in Central Africa. 

It is not always easy to determine the colour of the eye, or rather 
of the iris. The iris is formed of two circles, which are occasionally 
of different colours, the external being darker than the internal, and 
of an intermediate zone of a lighter hue. Eadiated striae and sj)ots 
are sometimes seen, which add to our difficulties. It is desirable, 
therefore, to stand at about the distance of a centimetre in order 
to ascertain its general appearance, without going into minutiae. 
We ought always to look with suspicion on an abnormally dilated 
pupil, as well as carefully to note the shadow projected by the 
eyebrows and eyelashes. The " Instructions de la Societe d' Anthro- 
pologic " recognise four shades of colour — brown, green, blue, and 
gray ; each having five tones — the very dark, the dark, the inter- 
mediate, the light, and the very light. The expression " brown " does 
not mean pure brown, it is rather a reddish, a yellowish, or a 
greenish brown, corresponding with the chestnut or auburn colour, 
the hazel (noisette), and the sandy (roux), made use of by the 
English. The gray, too, is not pure ; it is strictly speaking a violet 
more or less mixed with black and white {Broca). 

Dark and light blue eyes usually belong to those which avc 



I 
I 



Chap. VI.] COLOUll OF THE HAIE. 347 

term fair people, and arc more characteristic of a particular group 
of race than any other shade ; they are commonly associated with 
fine, silky, and yellowish or flaxen hair; when associated with 
hlack hair, they are a sign of mixed breed. Gray, greenish, and 
neutral-tinted eyes is one of the characteristics of the Celtic race. 
They are very common in Russia in conjunction with a skin 
naturally marked with freckles, and appear to have been derived 
from an ancient race now extinct or merged into other races. It is 
nevertheless a question Avhether green eyes are not in certain cases a 
transformation of the blue by crossing. (See Chapters X. and XI., 
" The Fair and Tin Tj'pes.") 

The colour of the hair may be classified as follows : The flaxen 
(approaching that of Albinos), the flaxen (properly so called), 
the golden yellow, the sandy, the chestnut, the brown, and the 
various shades of black up to that of jet. Dr. Beddoe does not 
look upon sandy hair as ethnic, he considers it accidental. Have 
we not, on the contrary, ground for considering it as a vestige of an 
extinct race with green eyes, which might have advanced as far as 
England and. the confines of the Ehine ? 

There is often an alteration in the colour of the hair on the 
surface of the. body, especially in the folds about the joints, where 
it becomes reddish, owing to the acid which is there secreted. The 
inquiry is often made by travellers how it is that there are 
individuals ivith light or reddish hair in the midst of people with 
black hair. It is due occasionally to a complete or incomplete 
albinism, and more frequently still to the use of dyes. All the 
tones and shades of colour have been arranged by M. Broca in the 
" Instructions de la Societe d' Anthropologic," under the form of 
a chromatic table, which has been reproduced by many of the 
foreign societies, and is now universally received. We thus get 
fixed data, upon Avhich discussion is scarcely possible, instead of 
individual notions. Dr. Beddoe, in England, has given a consider- 
able amount of attention to the colour of the eyes and hair in a 
large number of Europeans. Xot being able in our limited space 
to reproduce his tables, even in part, or of giving a resume of them, 
we shall only take into consideration one point, namely, the pro- 



348 FAIR AND DARK HAIR. [Chap. yi. 

portion of those commonly called fair, chestnut, and brown. Con- 
sidering that light eyes and light hair, for example, are both well 
understood terms in pure races, and that we have nothing to do 
with mixed races, we have added (a) Those with black and fair 
hair and light eyes ; (b) Those with chestnut-coloured hair and 
eyes of an intermediate tint ; and (c) Those with dark brown and 
black hair and dark eyes. The sum is divided by two, and the 
quotient expressed in hundredths of the number of individuals 
examined. The following are our results in this most remarkable 



Brown. 
Per cent. 
3-5 
25-2 
30-9 
31-9 
37-6 
41-4 
57-3 
67-0 
73-6 
73-1 
79-3 



From this it appears — (a) That not one of these series is abso- 
lutely pure, and that, among the Jews more particularly, there are 
individuals with fair and chestnut hair ; no one moreover would 
assert that this people marry exclusively with those of their own 
religion, and do not intermix with those of other creeds, (b) That 
the greatest number of fair people are met with among the Danes, 
then the Wallachians, and the largest number of brown-haired 
individuals among the Maltese, the Jews, and the Ligurians. 
(c) That the Southern Jews and the J^orthern Jews are almost 
entirely brown-haired, which is a certain argument in favour of the 
influence of external circumstances, (d) That the Bretons are 
essentially brown-haired. Moreover, the comparison is perhaps not 
altogether an impartial one as to the fair-haired, inasmuch as the 
chestnut-coloured are somewhat taken into account. The beard, 



series : 








Sandy and 


Intermediate 




Fair. 


or Chestnut. 




Per cent. 


Per cent. 


28 Danes 


.. 78-5 .. 


17-9 


400 Wallachians ... 


., 520 .. 


22-2 


1125 Scotch Highlanders 


.. 45-4 .. 


23-9 


90 Irish 


.. 45-3 .. 


21-2 


654 Normans 


.. 33-1 


29-2 


1250 Viennese 


., 32-8 .. 


25-8 


368 Bretons 


.. 20-0 .. 


22-7 


518 Ligurians 


.. 170 .. 


16-0 


163 Northern Jews... 


.. 14-4 .. 


13-3 


233 Southern Jews... 


.. 13-5 .. 


13-7 


130 Maltese 


8-8 .. 


11-8 



Chap, vi.] 



LIGHT AND DARK EYES. 



349 



of which nothing is said here, is often light when the hair is 
brown, while the converse is rare. The following tahle, calculated 
in the same way as the American statistics of the War of Secession, 
also merits our consideration on account of the prodigious number 
of cases to which it has reference. The first five series relate to fair, 
and the last to brown races. 



English 

Scotch 

Irish ... 

Germans 

Scandinavians 

Spanish and Portuguese 



Sandy and 
Fair. 


Intermediate 
and Chestnut. 


... 48-9 


.. 26-9 ... 


... 50-2 


.. 25-7 ... 


... 50-5 


.. 201 ... 


... 48-0 


.. 22-6 ... 


... 68-4 


.. 19-5 ... 


... 23-7 


.. 17-7 ... 



Brovm. 
23-4 
23-0 
23-3 
23-8 
11-8 
57-8 



A map of the colour of the hair and eyes, similar to that which 
M. Broca has arranged for the stature, would be very desirable for 
any country.* M. Bernard, an army surgeon, has commenced one, 
but it has reference only to a few hundred soldiers. In his two most 
striking series, and at the same time those of the most opposite 
races — one being made up from the Kymric Departments (Nord, 
Jura, Bas-Ehin, Moselle, Haut-Ehin, and Meurthe), the other from 
the Celtic Departments (Correze, Haute-Loire, Aveyron, Indre, 
Cautal, Ardeche, Dordogne) — the percentage is made up as follows : 

Hair. Eyes. 





Fair. 


Chestnut. 


Blue. 


Brown. 




Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Kymric Departments 


... 55-0 


.. 44-9 . 


.. 560 . 


.. 41-8 


Celtic Departments 


... 21-8 


.. 78-0 . 


. 50-0 . 


. 500 



Unfortunately these distinctions of colour are not sufficient. 
Thus, in the first series, we have blue eyes, and in the second gray- 
blue ; the altogether black-haired are not noticed at all except as 
regards Basques. 

It is common for the hair, and in a less degree for the eyes, to 
become darker during the second period of childhood or later. The 
light hair becomes chestnut and chestnut dark brown. In a word, 

* The Germans are preparing a map of this kind for their country. 



350 DEVELOPMENT OF THE PILOUS SYSTEM. [Chap. vi. 

colour is an excellent characteristic of race, but it sliould not be 
taken as a basis of classificatit)n. The division of the white races, 
these being subdivided into the fair and the dark, is the only 
estabhshed one. Yellow, red, and black have too many inter- 
mediate colours, and are not sufficiently characteristic. Taken in 
connection with others, this character becomes very valuable. The 
Bosjesman is distinctly separated from all the other negroes by a 
peculiar yellow tint, and the Australian from all the other straight- 
haired races by the black. 

Tlie Pilous System. 

The Ainos, the Australians, the Tasmanians, and the Todas of the 
^N'ilgherries are, as regards the body generally, the most hairy. In the 
first in particular, the front of the chest, the back of the shoulders, 
and the limbs are covered with a thick fur, the skin not being visible. 
M. Eosory has met with a half-breed between the Ainos and the 
Japanese whose hair on the chest was 17 centimetres in length. 
We might mention, as examples of a very hairy race, the ancient 
Assyrians, and an extinct race, well-marked vestiges of which are 
found here and there among the brown races of southern Europe. 
Scarcely a trace of hair is to be found on the body among the 
negroes of Africa and the Mongolian races, in which we must 
include the American races. The ancient Egyptians are represented 
as beardless. The hair, both of the head and body, varies more- 
over as to quantity. In the Chinese, the hair on the head is 
straight, long, and moderately abundant, while their eyebrows and 
moustaches are reduced to a narrow pencil of stiff hair, and their 
beards and whiskers frequently to a few scattered hairs. Certain 
races are distinguished for the regularity Avith which the hair of 
the beard is implanted, while in others, as the Australians and 
Todas, it is scattered and tangled so as to deserve the epithet of 
bushy. The exact limit to which the beard and whiskers grow is 
a striking feature in some Orientals. The period when the hair 
falls oif is taken notice of in the American statistics, to which wo 
have already referred. From this it appears, contrary to what we 



Ghap.vi.] character OF THE HAIR. 351 

should have anticipated, that baldness takes place earlier in the 
white than in the negro and the mulatto. 

The conformation of the hair, whether straight or spiral, is also 
of interest. 

Bory de St. Vincent was one of the first to insist upon the two 
great differences which it presents among races, which he has 
divided into leiotrichi, or straight-haired, and ulotrichi, or woolly- 
haired. His division therefore corresponded to the two species of 
mankind of Yirey : the white and the black. He has also made 
divisions of the straight-haired. 

To the naked eye, the hair is straight when the individual hairs 
are straight throughout their entire length, wavy Avhen they describe 
curves, curly when at a certain distance from their extremity they 
form large curls which are generally incomplete, frizzled when the 
smallest of these curls occupy the whole length of the hair, and 
woolly when these little curls are twisted in among those adjoining 
them, thus forming tufts resembling wool. We may remark here 
that the resemblance is only apparent, for the structure of human 
woolly hair is altogether different from that of sheep's wool. 

Crisp or woolly hair is fine or coarse, and presents itself in 
various aspects. It is long, and falls down in twisted curls which 
resemble thick fringes, as in certain Tasmanians; or long and 
bristly, thus forming a round mass, which is as much as 30 centi- 
metres in circumference, and which we term "mop-headed" (en tete 
de vadrouille), as in Papuans and Kaffirs ; or very short, sometimes 
looking like a fleece, sometimes being distributed in little masses 
like peppercorns (en grains de poivre), as in Hottentots. The way 
in which the individual hairs are implanted tends to produce some 
of these differences. The hairs are generally inserted obliquely. 
In Hottentots, Papuans, and some other negroes, they are inserted 
perpendicularly (Pruner-Bey), Generally, too, they are equally dis- 
tributed on the surface of the head, but sometimes irregularly or 
in straight lines or curves. In Hottentots and Papuans they grow 
in little tufts, separated by bald patches, which, when the hair is 
■cut short, gives to the head the appearance of a brush with pencils 
•of bristles. Another character of woolly hair but little studied is 



352 STRUCTUEE OF THE HAIR. [Chap. vr. 

the width of the roll, which is more or less contracted, giving the 
appearance of a spiral tower. In a collection of Hottentots' hair 
belonging to the Societe d'Anthropologie, the roll is not wider 
than two millimetres. It is very narrow, and is sometimes less 
than two millimetres. 

Straight, wavy, and frizzled hair is sometimes soft and silky,, 
as in Scandinavians ; sometimes glossy, as in the Malays ; some- 
times harsh and stiff, like horse-hair, as in Americans, and also, 
though in a less degree, in the Mongolian races. Frizzled hair 
is sometimes like the head of a mop, as in the Cafusos, a mixed 
hreed between Americans and negroes. 

These differences take place in all parts of the body, and 
probably woolly hair is even more persistent in the negro cross- 
breeds on the unexposed parts, and especially on the pubis. All 
depends on the microscopic structure of the hair. 

M. IsTathusius maintained that the hair was cylindrical in all 
races, and that its spiral character depended on the form of the 
secretory follicle at its root. M. Weber, and especially M. Pruner- 
Bey, affirm that this form varies, and that its spiral appearance 
arises from its flatness. 

The hair consists of the root, including the bulb, and the stem. 
In the centre of this is a sort of canal, transparent in Europeans 
with light hair; more or less opaque, though still visible, in 
Europeans with black hair, Mongols, and Americans ; and invisible 
in negroes, Papuans, and Malays. M. Pruner-Eey does not look 
upon these appearances as constant, or characteristic in any race. 
The size of the stem is of more importance ; it is the cause of the 
harshness and rigidity of the hair, or its fineness and flexibility. 
The largest transverse sections are to be met with in Thibetans, 
Polynesians, Santals of India, and Americans ; and the smallest in 
Fins. The shape of the section is decidedly characteristic : it is 
cylindrical, ovoid, elliptical, or reniform, and is estimated according 
to its width or length. The thinnest and flattest hair is that of 
Eosjesmans, Papuans, and negroes ; the most cylindrical being 
that of Polynesians, Malays, Siamese, Japanese, and Americans. 
Europeans are between the two. Half-breeds present characters 



Chap. VI.] THE PHYSIOGNOMY. 353 

intermediate between the two races from whicli they are derived, 
or take the hair pecuhar to either the one or the other race."^ 

The microscopic examination of the hair, easy enough when one 
is satisfied with ascertaining the size, colour, or condition of the 
medullary canal, is very difficult when we have to do with its 
form. The smallest deviation of the instrument, the slightest 
folding of the hair, converts a transverse section into an oblique 
and elongated one. Then, again, the hair must be taken when it 
is fully developed, that is to say, at about the period of the second 
dentition ; and after examining a great many specimens from the 
same head, Ave must select the average. 

From what has just been said, and particularly from the observa- 
tions of M. Pruner-Bey, it is evident that the hair presents definite 
anatomical characters, and that these alone might be taken as a 
basis of classification for the races of mankind. Three groups 
might thus be portrayed: (1) Flat or woolly hair, characteristic of 
negroes ; (2) Large and coarse cylindrical hair, belonging to 
Mongols, Chinese, Malays, and Americans ; (3) Hair intermediate 
in shape and size, peculiar to European races. The first group 
might be divided into two, according as the hairs are inserted in 
tufts, as in Papuans and Bosjesmans, or in a continuous layer, as 
in other negroes. The third might be classified according as the 
hair is brown, as in our southern races, or light, as in the northern. 
Lastly : by comparing the character of the straight hair with the 
pure black colour of the skin in certain races, we might have a 
further group, comprising the Australians, Hymiarites, &c. Thus 
we should have six fundamental divisions bearing upon one and 
the same organ. 

Tlie Features, 

The features include the general form of the face, its details, 
and everything contributing to its expression. The expression of 

* Sur la Chevelure comme Caracteristique des Eaces Humaines d'apres 
des Recherches Microscopiques ; " and "Denxieme Serie d' Observations snr 
la Chevelure," by M. Pruner-Bey, in " Mem. Soc. d'Anthrop.," vols. ii. 
and iii. 



354 SHAPE OF THE FACE. [Chap. vr. 

the face arises from various causes, of which some are fixed and 
anatomical, others changing and physiological. There is nothing 
respecting which there is such diversity of opinion. The con- 
formation of the forehead, the amount of projection of the eyeballs, 
the contrast between the hair and the eyes, the shape of the 
eyelids, the nostrils, the lips, the chin, are the elements upon 
which it is based. The injection of the capillaries of the skin, 
which is always more or less visible except in negroes, and the 
action of the subjacent muscles excited by the inner feelings, are 
still more essentially connected with it. One of the best and most 
brilliant lectures of the lamented Gratiolet was devoted to this 
subject. 

With regard to general form, we have first to distinguish the 
two kinds of countenance as seen in j)rofile ; one evidently oblique 
or prognathous, in which the two jaws project in the form of a 
muzzle, and the lips are large and upturned. This is the negro 
type. The other, sensibly vertical or orthognathous, in which the 
lips are fine, straight, and small. This is the European type. 
There are also two kinds of countenance as looked at in front, the 
one developed and projecting in front of the median line, the 
sides receding and becoming narrower. This is also the European 
type. The other, in which the middle portion is flat, while the 
sides become wide and project out. This is the Mongolian type. 
The term " eurygnathous," applied to this by Isidore GeofFroy 
Saint-Hilaire, is in allusion to the prominence of the cheek-bones. 

There are two other types, the one elongated, the other con- 
tracted vertically. Among negroes, the pure Melanesian element, 
which has contributed to form the New Caledonian race now in 
existence, is in the former category ; the Tasmanians, now extinct, 
are in the latter. The Esquimaux and Patagonians have the long 
face, the ]Ni egritos the short face. M. Edwards was the first who 
established this distinction as regards the people of Erance. The 
men of Picardy, Champagne, and Burgundy have the long sharp 
face, with the cheek-bones scarcely visible, like the Gauls described 
by Eoman historians ; while those inhabiting the central districts 
have it more or less round. In short, there are regular coun- 



€hap. VI.] OBLIQUE DIRECTION OF THE EYES. 355 

tenances, of a fine oval, like that of the Arab, as well as those 
with irregular outlines, or angular, like that of the Australian, &c. 

A straight and contracted forehead is a feature of inferiority, 
a broad ample one, a mark of superiority. There can be no doubt 
about this. The vertical high forehead, with the frontal bosses 
very marked, is met with in some men of genius, as Sir Walter 
Scott, and the same, only narrower, is commonly observed in the 
negro. All the I*^ubians of M. Broca have it. ]^othing was more 
incorrect than the forehead of 90 and 100 degrees which the 
Greek sculptors gave to their divinities ; it was by lowering the 
level of the ear that they obtained this appearance. A high and 
bulging forehead is an anomaly, reminding one of hydrocephalus 
in infancy. Microcephales and idiots have the receding forehead, 
with the frontal bosses scarcely visible, and very low. The happy 
medium is the best. A large full forehead, very slightly receding, de- 
scribing an ample curve at the level of the moderately high frontal 
bosses, and from that point passing backwards, are the characters of 
the well-formed European. Our ancestor of Cro-Magnon was in 
this respect the very opposite of his predecessor of the Neanderthal. 

The development of the superciliary arches in Man, and of the 
eyebrows which rest upon them, is the principal cause of the 
vchai-acter which we designate by the name of "deep* orbits" or 
■" S'unken eyes ; " the depression of the root of the nose, the 
smallness of the eyeball, and the narrowness of the palpebral 
aperture, contribute to it. This aperture is shaped like an almond, 
Avith its external extremity tapering, in Semitic women, who 
enlarge its outline by means of sulphuret of antimony. It is wide 
in negroes, whose eyes are even with their head {Lawrence)^ and 
very small in Chinese and the majority of the yellaw races, owing 
to the shortness of the upper eyelid, which is as if pinched 
outwards. The oblique direction of the eye, and the raising of 
its external angle, in the Mongols are partly due to these two 
causes, and are partly natural. However, these features are far 
from being constant in these races, although they are those by 
which we recognise them the best. King, in speaking of the eye 
^f the Esquimau, which, with that of the Chinese, may be con- 

2 A 2 



356 CHAEACTERS OF THE NOSE. [Chap. vi. 

sidered as tlie type of the race, says : "Its internal part is lowered, 
while its external has an npward direction. The internal angle is 
covered by a fold of loose integument. This fold is slightly 
stretched over the angles of the eyelids, and covers the carimcula 
laclirymalis, which is visible in the European, and forms as it were 
a third eyelid, in the form of a crescent." That which tends to 
exaggerate the impression of obliquity given by the Chinese or 
Esquimau eye is a particular (movement of the eyebrows, the two 
internal thirds of which are lower, and the external third higher than 
ours {Br oca). The oblique eye, so called by travellers, is met with 
also among the American Indians, and, according to Barrow and 
others, among Hottentots. The reverse of this too narrow or too 
short lid is the drooping lid, as though puffed or too loose, and 
Covering a j)ortion of the eyeball. Something of this kind has 
been noticed in certain Australians. So much has been said 
respecting the malar-bones when describing the skeleton, that we 
need not further refer to the projection of the cheek-bones, so 
characteristic of all the native races of Eastern Asia. This pro- 
minence is sometimes so remarkable in the Esquimaux, that when 
associated with a sunken condition of the entire nose, it enabled 
King to place a rule on both cheek-bones at the same time without 
its touching that organ.* 

The morphological variations of the nose have not received that 
attention which they deserve. Developed in an antero-posterior 
direction in Europeans and North Americans, it is wide and flat 
in the majority of Mongols — in our opinion, in all true Mongols 
— and in negroes. Projection and width are generally in an 
inverse ratio, and form the starting-point of a series of diff'erences 
with respect to the bridge and the base, which are principally 
expressed by two indices, one of which corresponds very nearly to 
the nasal index as taken on the skeleton. The following table 
embraces the essential points bearing upon these differences :t 

* " On the Physical Characters of the Esqiiimanx," by King, in " Journal 
of the Ethnol. Soc," vol. i. London, 1848. 

f " De la Morphologic duNez," by P. Topinard, in "Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.,'* 
2nd series, vol. viii., 1873, 



Chap, vi.] 



TRANSYERSB NASAL INDEX. 



357 



Maximum height ) Transverse index. 

„ breadth ... ) ) 

„ projection \ Antero-posterior index. 

( distinct (pinched, trilobed varieties). 

' Lobule < non-distinct. 

( extending beyond the nares. 
.J i near together. 

( divergent. 

! elliptical, 
round. 



Nostrils 



Their plane 
looking ... 

Direction of 
their axis 

' Its angle of inclination, 
rectilinear. 



downwards. 

forwards. 

backwards. 

outwards. 

antero-posterior. 

oblique. 

transverse. 



Bridge... - 



Direction 



) bent or dinted. 

) convex (aquiline variety). 

^ concave (retrousse variety). 

f like a roof. 

I rounded off. 

' broad and flat. 



The lieiglit is taken witli the sliding compass, vertically from 
the root to the hase of the nose, as on the skeleton ; the breadth 
from the widest portions of the alse, and the projection or antero- 
posterior diameter, from the point of the nose to the sub-nasal 
point, with a small graduated rule, which is held horizontally on 
the line of Camper, and at the same time pressed against the skin. 
The transverse measurement is common to the two indices. ^ It 
varied from 29 to 42 millimetres in 78 Europeans which we 
examined, and from 40 to 52 in 18 busts of negroes and Mongols. 
Its relation with the height = 100, or transverse nasal index, 
averaged 68*14 in the first, 89 on a Cochin-China bust, 100 on a 
Papuan and an Australian, and was as high as 110, 112, and 115 
on some African negroes. The extreme deviation was 75*00, so that 
a considerable margin is left for the apportionment of the averages 



358 Al^TEEO-POSTERIOR NASAL INDEX. [CiiAP. yis. 

and of tlie individual cases. The transverse nasal index is there^ 
fore a valuable character in the living subject, as the corresponding 
index of M. Broca is on the skeleton. 

On looking from below upwards at the nose of the European, on 
the one hand, and that of the negTo and Mongolian on the other, 
we are struck with the difference in the shape of the little isosceles 
triangle formed by the septum in the middle and the nostrils at 
the sides, and which has hitherto escaped the attention of Anthro- 
pologists. The difference consists in the relation of the length 
antero-posteriorly of the sub-septum, or rather of the entire pro- 
jection of the nose at the above maximum breadth, otherwise 
called the antero-posterior nasal index. In our 78 Europeans, it 
varied from 55 to 89, the mean being 66'6. In the negroes and 
Mongolians it was probably as low as 30. Having measured but 
a few living subjects, and principally busts, upon which no pres- 
sure of the lip could be made, we cannot speak with certainty. 
We recommend this measurement to travellers as being easy to take. 

Among other characters may be mentioned — (1) The depth of 
the hollow at the root, which is not indicated in the table. It is; 
considerable in Melanesians, who are thus distinguished from the 
negroes of Africa. It is also tolerably marked in the majority 
of our European races, though generally less so in the female. 
It is less marked in the Mongolian races, as also in the Arab, 
and in what is commonly called the ancient Greek type, represented 
by the Yenus de Milo. (2) The arching ' of the nose. Excep- 
tionally, as if broken or bent, as in Bourbons, more general and 
more projecting in Americans {Catlin) ; it is altogether charac- 
teristic of the aquiline nose peculiar to the Arabs, Jews, ancient 
Assyrians, Guebres, or ancient Persian iire-worshippers, &c. Two 
types of this feature ought to be distinguished : the one, thick — 
in which the nose is large, and rounded off at the back, big and 
puffy at the point ; the other, thin — in which the lateral planes 
are well defined, the bridge sharp, and the median lobule distinct 
from the alse, and prolonged below the plane of the nostrils like an 
eagle's or parrot's beak, whence its name, aquiline. . (3) The two 
kinds of flattening of the nose, which may be distinguished by 



Chap, vi.] SYMMETEICAL CHAEACTEES. 359 

the terms epcite and ecrase; tlie former having reference to the 
organ in its ensemble, and being equally applicable to the skeleton ; 
the latter to the peculiar depression of its lower half, owing to 
a want of consistence of its cartilages. The Chinese have the nez 
epate, the Malays the ecrase, negroes both epate and ecrase. It is 
true that both these characters are very commonly found together. 
(4) The form of the nostrils viewed from beloAV. These are 
elliptical from before, backwards in the white, more or less 
diverging backwards, so as to become almost transverse, in the most 
inferior races, their variations depending principally on the breadth 
of the sub-septum behind. (5) The elevation upwards and out- 
wards of the plane of the entire base, or of the ahe separately, so that 
the internal surface or side of the nostrils becomes more or less 
exposed to view. The Bosjesmans, and the lowest-type negroes 
approximate in this respect to the simian types. Among the 
accessory features of the nose may be placed the variable develop- 
ment of its muscular apparatus. In Europeans, the nostrils are 
only seen to dilate exceptionally, when the breathing is oppressed. 
In a large number of individuals, and especially in the inferior 
races, the movements of dilatation and contraction are very marked, 
thus giving to the countenance a ferocious expression. 

We have previously spoken of the harmonious or symmetrical 
characters of the cranium and face ; nowhere are they so striking 
as in the nasal apparatus of the living subject and of the skeleton. 
The width of the interval between the eyes, or rather the space 
included between the external angles of the ascending processes 
of the superior maxillary bones, is usually accompanied by flatness 
of the same interval, and the obliteration of the glabella. The 
width of the base of the nose and the anterior orifice of the nasal 
fossae in the skeleton corresponds not only with the two or three 
preceding characters but also with the flatness of the entire nose, 
both bone and cartilages. So with the nostrds, from being placed 
antero-posteriorly, they become transverse. Any one of these 
characters being given, we can at once determine the others. 
The opposite .conditions of contraction with counterbalancing pro- 
jection of these different points are in the same category. According 



360 ' THE MOUTH, CHIN, AND EAES. [Chap. vi. 

to the rules of art, tlie space between the eyes = the base of the 
nose ; this is exactly so in the two opposite types of which we 
are speaking. Eut there are constant exceptions in a race, as there 
are in the harmony between the cranium and face, which thus 
become valuable differential characters for certain sub-races. An 
analogous harmony exists in the mouth and ear. Both characters 
must be preserved, the harmonious as well as the incongruous. 

Delicacy of shape of the lips, and smallness of the mouth are 
European features, except in some individuals of the lymphatic 
temperament, in whom the upper lip is decidedly the larger. 
Sometimes immoderately thick lips are the ordinary accompaniment 
of prognathism, especially of alveolo-dental prognathism, and arises 
from the development of the orbicular muscle of the lips, and still 
more from hypertrophy of their cellulo-adipose tissue. It is said 
that Man alone has a chin. On the skeleton it is indicated almost 
without exception by a small more or less projecting triangular 
surface, such as that on the prehistoric Naulette jaw. On the 
living subject it is represented by a rounded-off and well-defined 
projection, which is very remarkable on the busts of !N"ero and 
iN'apoleon. It is sometimes obliterated, which often arises from the 
lower jaw being much smaller than the upper, and shrinking in. 
Barrow says that the Bosjesmans, although prognathous in the 
lower jaw, have a projecting and pointed chin. 

The ears have not been sufficiently studied, though furnishing 
characters of considerable value. They are large or small. In the 
Kabyles they project out ; in others they are close to the side of the 
head. The lobule is wanting in certain Chaouias or Kabyles of the 
province of Constantine, in the religious fanatics of the Pyrenees, 
and here and there in individuals of every race. In Europeans the 
ears are oval and well defined ; in negroes they are round or ap- 
proaching to square. The ear without a folded margin behind or 
above, an angle at the union of the superior with the posterior 
border, as well as flatness, are important features, and somewhat of 
a simian character. The varieties of configuration of this organ, 
and of its folds and hollows, are very com'monly hereditary. 
It is modified by certain ethnic usages, such as the elongation 



Chap. Ti.] ODOUR OF THE SKIN. 361 

of the lobule by heavy earrings until it almost touches the 
shoulders. 

But little has been determined as to the value of certain dis- 
similarities noticed in the teeth. A more or less thick enamel, a 
yellowish or bluish colour, variety in the number of the roots, as well 
as certain particulars connected with the crown, have attracted 
attention. In the negro races they are better set and more regular 
than in the white races, in which they are small and close together. 
Caries is more common in England, Ireland, and Germany than in 
Canada, according to some American statistics, gathered from an 
examination of a thousand soldiers. Certain ethnic customs leave 
their traces upon them, which we sometimes utilise in craniology 
for the purpose of ascertaining the source from Avhich skulls are 
derived. In Africa, as well as in Oceania, a considerable number 
of the savage tribes extract or sharpen their front teeth at the 
period of puberty. Malays have the front of the teeth corroded in 
a transversely concave line, owing to their chewing the betel-niit. 
On the anterior surface of the teeth of the Yucatan there is some- 
times a point of enamel of a blue turquoise or greenish colour. 
Their wear and tear, which in our races inclines inwards in the 
upper jaw, in many foreign races inclines outwards. 

There are some other physiological features to be noticed. Thus 
the skin of the negro is shining and velvety, and cooler than that 
of the European, according to Prichard. Others have maintained 
the contrary. 

The odour of the cutaneous envelope, sui generis in each race, 
w^ould furnish important differential characters, if one could em- 
ploy some definite re-agent as a substitute for the uncertain sense 
of smell. The missionary Hue declared that he could recognise 
the ]N"egro, the Tartar, the Thibetan, the Hindoo, the Chinese, and 
the Arab, by their effluvium, and added that although disguised 
the dogs of the Chinese barked at him. The Peruvian, says 
Humboldt, has three distinct words by which to designate the 
odour of the European, the Indian, and the ^egro, respectively. 
Euegger states that mosquitos are attracted to certain races by 
their peculiar odour. The characteristic effluvium from the hold 



362 EXTEENAL GENITAL ORGANS. [Chap. vi. 

of a slave-sMp can never be got rid of, and it is owing to this that 
the blood-hounds of JS'ew Orleans were enabled to track the run- 
away slave. 

The external genital organs present very marked differences in 
different races. In the male these are but slight. In the female, 
the differences are very considerable. In the first place, it is certain 
that the hemispherical, conical, and pyriform mammae which 
are now characteristic of the races which surround us, were 
formerly peculiar to distinct races. So with the perforation of 
the olecianon, or the platycnemic tibia. It is no less certain that 
their exaggerated length, from the period when the female has 
fulfilled her maternal functions, is an essential characteristic of 
other races. We commonly meet with accounts by travellers of 
negresses throwing their breasts over their shoulders to suckle 
their infants hanging at their backs. A Bosjesman woman, exa- 
mined by Flower and Murrie, could bring the two breasts together 
behind, above the region of the buttocks. 

Under the name of " steatopyga " is understood the development 
in the female of enormous fatty masses, shaking like jelly at the 
least touch, which are superposed upon the glutsei muscles. This 
character is met with here and there in Africa, among the Somalis, 
Kafiirs, and Hottentots, and is constant in various degrees in 
Bosjesmans. There is no evidence of it either on the skeleton or 
on the glut^ei. It is more than an hypertrophy of the adipose 
tissue, it is almost a supplementary organ, as special as the 
laryngeal sacs of the gorilla and the chimpanzee ; nay, more so, 
for these are only a progressive increase as age advances, and 
more particularly in the male, of a cavity at the back part of the 
larynx common to all the higher mammalia, while nothing in the 
European has any resemblance in the slightest degree to steatopyga. 
This strange organ, the particular use of which is not known, was 
present, as well as the tablier, in a Bosjesman virgin of 12 years of 
age.* The fat increases in size like the breasts. 

* Eeview of a memoir of Flower and Murrie, on "A Dissection of a 
Bosjesman Woman," in "Anthropological Eeview," vol. v., 1867. 



Chap. VII.] PHYSICAL CHAEACTERS. 363 

Everything tends to support the belief that a pecuhar race, 
possessing these two characters, and of which the Eosjesmans are 
the closest representatives, formerly lived as a scattered people from 
the coast of Aden to the Cape of Good Hope. If we compare the 
yellomsh colour of this people with other original characters which 
separate them from the negroes of the adjoining countries, this 
hypothesis becomes almost a matter of certainty. Hitherto we 
have met with many opposite characters in the human groups, but- 
few so remarkable as these. We have seen the marked difference 
between woolly and straight hair, between the prognathous and 
the orthognathous, the jet black of the Yoloff and the pale com- 
plexion of the Scandinavian, between the ultra-dolichocephalic 
Esquimau or J^cav Caledonian, and the ultra-brachycephalic Mon- 
golian. But the line of separation between the European and the 
Bosjesman as regards these two characters is, in a morphological 
point of view, still wider, as much so as between each of the 
anthropoid apes, or between the dog and the wolf, the goat and 
the sheep. 



CHAPTEE YII. 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERS — AGE MENSTRUATION CROSSES SUCCESSION 

CONSANGUINEOUS UNION. 

If the physical differences noticeable either on the dead body or on 
the living subject, are of the first importance as distinguishing 
races, the differences resulting from the function of organs have 
also their value. It is of importance to know whether the 
Australian lives, breathes, propagates his species, thinks and speaks 
like the European; whether the Hottentot is subjected to the 
influence of external conditions, inter-crosses, satisfies his wants, and 
is of sociable habits like the Chinese. All the subjects we have 
passed in review when comparing Man with animals, again present 



364 DURATION OF LIFE. [Chap. vir. 

themselves to our notice when comparing men between themselves. 
This part of the science whose more general questions have scarcely 
yet been explored, would merit the title of hiology as opposed to 
that which has been discussed in the preceding pages under the 
name of anatomy. 



Duration of Life. 

The duration of life is less at the poles among the Esquimaux 
and Lapps, and at the equator among the ]S"egroes; but that may 
depend on climate and external circumstances. In Greenland, there 
are more women than men, because the men die from accident, 
and rarely reach 50 years of age. The women, however, attain 
to the age of 70, 80, and even beyond. Prichard has collected 
together cases of centenarians from every race. Mne English 
emigrants in America from 110 to 151 years; 10 or 15 negroes 
from 107 to 160 ; one Kafhr 109; many Hottentots of 100 {Barroio) ; 
two Indians of 117 and 143 respectively (iTwm&oZti^^) ; 35 Egyptians 
above 100 {Larrey). Eecently Sir Duncan Gibb mentioned the 
case of a Fin of 115 years. The mean duration of life in Erance, 
which was 29 at the close of the eighteenth centmy — and 39 
from 1817 to 1831, increased to 40 from 1840 to 1859, thanks 
to the progress of sanitary science and civilisation. There are 
some reasons, however, for believing that apart from the influence 
of climate, and the power which Man has of dealing with the 
causes of disease, the mean normal longevity is not the same in all 
races. 

So, decrepitude shows itself sooner in some races than in others. 
The Australians and Bosjesmans are old men at a period when the 
European is in the full enjoyment of his faculties, both physical and 
intellectual. The Japanese the same, according to Dr. Krishaber, 
physician to the Japanese embassy. Unquestionably the woman 
fades away much sooner in the negro races even from the first 
pregnancy. In the negro, the development of the body is 
generally in advance of the white. His wisdom teeth are cut 



Chap, vii.] MENSTRUATION. 365 

sooner; and in estimating the age of his sknll, we must reckon it 
as at least five years in advance of the white. 

There are many points connected with this subject still unsettled. 
The successive dates of the eruption of the milk and permanent 
teeth, the period of growth of the body generally, and of the brain 
in particular, the period at which the epiphyses of the long bones 
become anchylosed to the diaphyses, the period of the commence- 
ment and cessation of menstruation, the period when the hair falls 
off and changes colour — all this would furnish more certain data for 
the solution of the problem than the average duration of life, 
which is too much dependent on external circumstances. 

Whites lose their teeth much sooner than negroes, but this is 
owing to their bad quality and to their being too close together, 
which predisposes them to caries. D'Orbigny says that the 
Charruas never lose their teeth. They wear out however more 
quickly in savage races, from their masticating corrosive substances, 
as the betel-nut by the Malays or very hard matters by the 
Patagonians. The hair becomes white more slowly in the yellow 
races, and baldness is rarely seen among them. (See i)age 350.) 



Menstruation. 

Menstruation, and the periods at which it becomes established and 
disappears, have not yet afforded anything conclusive with respect to 
races. The influence of the duration of life upon the period of the 
cessation of the catamenia is a well-established fact, thanks to a 
work of Mr. E. Co-\vrie. In the Shetland Islands the period of 
the appearance of the menses is the same as in Scotland, but that 
of their disappearance is from 50 to 51 years of age, while in 
Scotland they cease at the age of 45 to 46. JSTow, in the Shetland 
Islands, longevity is considerably greater. There are 33 per cent, 
of old people from 70 to 80, and 20 per cent, from 80 to 90 ; 
while in Scotland there are only 18 per cent, of the former, and 7 
of the latter. The influence of external circumstances also exerts 
its action. After comparing all the published statistics, Joulin 



366 MENSTRUATION"— FECUNDITY. [Chap. vir. 

came to the conclusion that in temperate countries the phenomenon 
makes its appearance at the age of 15, and in hot countries at 12|^, 
In 6000 German girls, M. Meyer found that the first menstruation 
took place at 15 "51 among the rich, and 16 "50 among the poor ; at 
15*98 in the towns, and 15-20 in the country. Food, warmth, 
good air, and good sanitary arrangements, bring all the vital 
functions into full play. According to M. Guerault, the catamenia 
are less abundant, or are altogether suspended among the 
Esquimaux during the winter, when food is less abundant, while 
they are copious in summer. In hot countries, among Europeans, 
they readily pass into true menorrhagia. 

In making statistics with respect to menstruation, the difficulty 
is to divest the subject of that which has specially to do with the 
race. Two opposing influences are at work, and may apparently 
falsify the results. The following are the most important published 
statistics as to the average period of the- first appearance of, the 
catamenia in various races : 



Christiania (Faye) 

Copenhagen (Rawn) 

North. Germany (Lagneau) 

Russia (Lieven) ... 

France (Lagneau) 

England „ 

Madeira (Robertson) 

Jamaica, Negresses (Robertson).. 

Southern Asia (Lagneau) 



The races which it would interest us to know the most about 
are not in the list, as the Esquimaux and Lapps, Australians and 
Bosjesmans. The records respecting the former are very contra- 
dictory, and relate to but few examples ; and as regards the latter, 
we have none.* 

The duration of pregnancy, fecundity, the number of twin- 
births, &c., are so many questions of comparative anthropology, 

* See Tilt, "Monthly Journal of Medical Science,". 1850, vol. Ixi.; 
Lagneau, " Gaz. Hebd. de Med.," 1867, 2nd series, vol. iv. p. 613, &c. 



2691 . 


. 16 years months. 


3840 . 


. 16 


, „ 


4324 . 


. 16 


, 9 „ 


1000 . 


. 16 


, 6 „ 


3661 . 


. 15 


, 1 „ 


3759 . 


. 14 


, 11 J, 


242 . 


. 14 


, 10 „ 


80 . 


. 14 


, 10 „ 


1140 . 


. 12 


, 10 „ 



€hap. vil] CEOSSING. 367 

which come next to that of menstruation. "With regard to the 
first point, we have httle information beyond the French statistics. 
The facility with which child-bearing takes place among savage 
peoples, in spite of the want of the smallest care, depends alto- 
gether upon the anatomical and physiological arrangement of the 
parts, and on the degree of resistance to pain. There are un- 
doubtedly very decided differences in these respects between one 
European race and another. An accurate estimate of fecundity 
is an exceedingly difficult one to determine. In France, three or 
four children is the usual number born in a family. In other 
countries of Europe this number is exceeded. In Iceland, accord- 
ing to Moser, it is as high as five. The hypoborean races are less 
fertile, the Slavs more so. Il^egresses readily conceive, and make 
excellent nurses. In Western Australia, 44 women beyond the 
middle age had 188 children, or 4-3 each — three had seven each, 
and one only was barren {G. Grey). But statements of this kind 
;are frequently erroneous. With regard to multiple births, the 
information we possess scarcely extends beyond the French statistics. 
According to a table of Moser, the largest nu.mber *of twin-births 
Avas in Dublin and in Eussia. In Australia the number is about 
the same as in France : "I am acquainted with four cases " of 
twin-births, writes Sir G. Grey. 

Crossing. 

This is one of the most vexed questions in Anthropology. 
Under this title is understood in iNTatural History the union of 
two individuals whatever may be their supposed or actual zoological 
difference. Their progeny have the general name of hybrids, and 
in Man that of mongrels. The former of these terms is usually 
applied to the fixed or variable products of species between them- 
selves, and the latter the products of varieties or races. 

Between animals of classes differing widely we occasionally 
witness the most singular connections, as between the dog and 
the sow, but the generative impulse goes for nothing. It is stated 



368 CROSSING. [Chap. tii. 

that individuals of different Orders have given birth to offspring, as 
between the bull and the mare, whose progeny, or jumarts, inhabited 
the Atlas mountains and the mountains of Piedmont. It is a 
better authenticated fact that the phenomenon takes place between 
different Genera. M. de Bouille in 1873 described the offspring of 
the cross between the ibex of the Pyrenees and the domestic goat. 
The Pehuelhas in the Chilian Alps crossed this latter with the 
sheep, and obtained a very vigorous breed called cliabins (buck- 
sheep), whose descendants, fertile through an indefinite number of 
generations, are of considerable commercial value on account of 
their skins and fleeces, known by the name of "pellons." Between 
species the crosses are common and fertile, the mongrels them- 
selves being either sterile, as mules — the offspring of the ass and 
the horse — or fertile, as the progeny of the hare and the rabbit, 
the dog and the wolf, the jackal and the fox, the camel and the 
dromedary, the alpaca and the llama or vecuna, the horse and the 
zebra or wild mule, the bison and the European ox, &c. 

There is therefore no reason to suppose that we have been 
deceived as tt> the reality of certain species, and that such were 
only varieties. Two or three well-established facts out of many 
will suffice. It is now certain that the limit of species is not 
an absolute obstacle to fertility, and consequently that its circum- 
scription has nothing decided about it, which puts us entirely at 
our ease when discussing the question of human cross-breeds. 
Whether races anthropologically distant from each other have or 
have not indefinitely fertile offspring, is of little importance, the 
simple question is whether they represent species or varieties. 
(See page 193, et seq.) 

Much mystery remains to be cleared up, however, relative to the 
phenomena of hybridism in general. Why, for example, a male of 
one species produces fertile hybrids with the female of another 
species, while, inversely, a female of one with a male of another 
is sterile (unilateral hybridism). Why a female savage in captivity 
does not produce more fertile offspring with the male of her own 
species, while captivity increases the fertility of other species; 
why among dogs, or human beings, the germs being appa- 



Chap. VII.] CEOSSING. 369 

rently sound, there are some fertile unions and others not 
so. We have only the simple facts before us from which to form 
a judgment. 

M. Broca has defined the various degrees of sexual affinity, which 
he caUs homogenesis,* thus : 



Heterogenesis. 

! Abortive 
_° , " t without offspring. 

Dysgenesia .. . ) 
Paragenesic..)^^^ .^g^ 

Eugenesic ... ) 



In heterogenesis there may be intercourse without impregnation. 
Abortive homogenesis is merely a matter of speculation; impreg- 
nation takes place, but the foetus does not arrive at its full term. 
In agenesic homogenesis, or agenesis, there are offspring, but these 
are absolutely sterile inter se, or with individuals of one or the 
other mother-race. In dysgenesic homogenesis, or dysgenesis, these 
mixed breeds are still sterile inte^- se, but they are fertile with indi- 
viduals of one or other mother-race— their offspring, called hybrids 
of the second blood, being nevertheless sterile, so that it cannot 
again form a new race. 

In paragenesic homogenesis, or paragenesis, or collateral hybridism, 
the direct hybrids, or those of the first hlood, are still sterile be- 
tween themselves, or as far as the second or third generation ; but 
those of the second Mood are indefinitely fertile, so that a race may 
take its origin by collaterals. In eugenesic homogenesis, or 
eugenesis, or direct hybridism, the two orders of hybrids are now 
indefinitely fertile, so that the new race makes its way directly and 
without hindrance. 

Heterogenesis is never other than individual in Man, nor con- 
sequently is agenesis. There was a disposition for some years to 
believe in absolute dysgenesis between certain races. This must 

* Memoire, " Sur I'Hybridite," by M. Broca, " Journal de Physiologie," . 
vol. i., 1838. 

2 B 



370 CROSSING. [Chap. VII. 

now Ibe given np. The wliole dispnte concentres upon tlie two 
latter kinds : Are there unions whicli could not give origin to a new 
race except by collaterals, that is to say, by a reversion towards 
the one or the other mother-race 1 

There are numerous species of human mongrels. There are 
(1) Those of the first blood, including their direct offspring, and all 
those which are derived from them by alliances with them ; (2) 
Those of the second blood (first degree of reversion), including all 
the offspring of the cross of the first blood with one of the two 
mother-races ; (3) Mongrels of the third blood (second degree of 
reversion), resulting from the cross of the second blood with one of 
the mother-races, and so on. At the fifth or sixth ^reversion all 
trace of hybridism has generally disappeared, the features of the 
mother-race have reverted to the original type. That there is but 
one species of mongrel of the first blood, but two species of the 
second, of the third, of the fourth, each resembling more one of the 
two original races, is certain ; and also that there are complex and 
nameless cross-breeds resulting from the cross of mongrels of 
different orders. 

If we express by W, or white, and B, or black, the two races, 
and by a fraction the amount of each according to its degree, we 
shall have the following series of reversion towards W : 



Mongrels of first blood 

„ second blood ... 

„ third blood ... 

„ fourth, blood . . . 

fifth blood ... 



= W| + Bi. 
= W-l- + B^. 
= Wfl + B^. 
= Wfi + B^. 



Homogenesis is absolute or eugenesic, and still more paragenesic, 
between contiguous races. The peoples of Europe are a proof of 
this. All, in various degrees, are the resultant of a series of cross- 
ings, one of the most striking products of which is the co-existence, 
in one and the same individual, of light or dark blue eyes with 
jet-black hair and beard. A friend of our own who traces back 
among his ancestors elements on the one side reaching to the 



Chap, vii.] CROSSING. 371 

Western Pyrenees and on the other to Lorraine, is an example of this. 
M. Broca found, when investigating the subject of stature, that 
nineteen-twentieths of the whole population of France presented, 
various degrees, the characters of mixed races. The Bretons are 
one-fourth Kymris and three-fourths Celts, without including 
another element which is seen among them, and which dates back 
to a later period than the Celts. Up to the time of the French 
Eevolution victors and vanquished lived apart; the former were 
the aristocracy, the latter the people.. But since they have been 
brought more into immediate contact the population has largely 
increased, proving how valuable that union has been. The table 
which we have constructed with materials furnished by Dr. Beddoe, 
shows that everywhere throughout Europe, and even among the 
Jews, two elements must be taken into account, the fair and the 
dark, which are promiscuously intermingled. 

The prosperity of the 'New American race is another example of 
eugenesis. Immigration into the United States, which has taken 
so considerable a flight during the last thirty years, has already 
been enormous. Every variety of cross has been going on between 
English, Irish, Germans, Italians, French, &c., with the greatest 
possible success. We may also mention numberless Spaniards 
from the Peninsula among whom are found the features of the 
Saracen invaders of the ninth centuiy ; then that population on 
he Barbary coast, called Moors, and which is a medley of races of 
every description, the Arab and Berber blood predominating. On 
tracing back the yellow races we also discover a perfect eugenesis. 
It would be difficult in the part of Asia which relates to them to 
mention a single race, or a single people, where crossing has not 
taken place. De Mas speaks in the highest terms of mixed breeds 
of Chinese and Mongolians, and MM. Mondieres and Morice of those 
of Chinese and Annamites under the name of Minuongs. Df. Bow- 
ring describes a race in the Philippine Islands, intermediate between 
the Malays and Chinese, as the principal agent of civilisation in 
these latitudes. 

Their mongrels, which are said to be thriving but little in the 
Eastern Malacca Islands (Waifz) and those of Chinese and Cam- 

2 B 2 



372 CROSSING. [Chap. vii. 

bogians but little fertile {Gutzlaff), are local exceptions, arising 
from the difficulties attending acclimatisation in these unhealthy 
countries. One of the first effects of the inability to become 
acclimatised is to diminish fecundity. The Mamelukes of Egypt 
during 560 years have had no children when married to women 
of their own race from Georgia, and have never established a branch 
in the Valley of the Mle. Such are some of the singular pheno- 
mena which everywhere present themselves when we have to deal 
with the question of reproduction. The failure of power to become 
acclimatised seems to attack the germ in its very earliest develop- 
ment. It is undeniable that in Africa the negro races do not cross 
to any great extent. The Kaffirs have carried their tall stature to 
a great number of points ; the Bosjesmans have here and there left 
traces of their steatopyga and their small stature. On the present 
frontiers of the two races a number of cross-breeds are to be met 
with. Eugenesis still continues between races already somewhat 
separated from one another. The half-breeds between Indians and 
Europeans are very numerous both in North and South America. 
"We ourselves have seen, in the United States, numerous families, 
the issue of the Indian and the Yankee, whose offspring were very 
fertile. 

In the official report, in 1870, upon the Aborigines, it is stated 
that there exists in Kansas an entire nation of half-breed Osages. 
In Mexico the Spanish mixed breeds constitute two-thirds or 
three-fourths of the whole population. In Brazil, La Plata, and 
Chili, the Portuguese mongrels are also in the majority. In Lima 
there are twenty -three different names to designate the varieties of 
mixed breeds of Spaniards, Peruvians, and JS'egroes. 

The children of the half-breed between the Chinese and the 
Spaniard are called tornas atras, according to Dr. Bowring. The 
facility with which the Chinese interbreed with every sort of race 
is well known. In the Antilles and in California, they are to be 
found everywhere, and they interbreed with the Indians and whites, 
thus producing many varieties of mixed progeny {^A. Maury). 
The reason why these are not greater is that the Chinese marries 
and returns to his own country as soon as he has amassed a com- 



Chap, vii.] CEOSSING. 373 

petency. The inferiority of the mixed breeds between the Chinese 
and the Portuguese, so conspicuous at Macao (Castano), ought still 
to be attributed to acclimation, in the same way as the Lippladens, 
or half-breeds between the Malays and the Dutch, which have 
never succeeded in establishing themselves in Java, and whose 
progeny were sterile to the third generation (Ivcm). In the 
French colony of Indo-China, M. Morice speaks of half-breeds of 
Europeans and Annamites as resisting exposure to the sun better 
than their European relations. Eitzroy describes the children and 
infants of the English and Malay, or Polynesians, as of a bright 
red-brown. The half-breeds of English and 'New Zealanders con- 
stitute a healthy and very muscular race, according to Waitz. 
Prichard speaks of marriages between the progeny of Europeans 
and aboriginal Samoans and Tongas as being as prolific as any 
other. The success of the Polynesian mixed breeds is no longer a 
matter of doubt. In 1789, nine English sailors, six male Tahitians, 
and 15 Tahitian women settled in Pitcairn Island, in the Pacific. 
In 1793 they were reduced to four white men and 10 Tahitian 
women. In 1846 the population of the island increased to 66, 
and in 1856 to 189. Moreover, at the termination of Cook's 
voyages, the Polynesian races were still unmingled with any infusion 
of white blood. JSTow, their mixed breeds are so numerous that it 
would be difiicult to find among them any individuals of pure race 
(De Quatrefages). 

In Africa, the Soudan is the great centre of mixed breeds between 
two races equally removed from one another. Here, in the tenth 
century, there appeared a red race with glossy hair, commonly 
known as that of the Foulbas [Earth), which engrafted itself as a 
dominating race upon a previous negro stock with v/ooUy hair, and 
giving origin to all sorts of mixed breeds, of which the Toucolors 
of Senegal are the most celebrated. The Somalis, the Gallas, and a 
score of other peoples of Eastern Africa, are, no doubt, mixed breeds 
between negroes and some red race or Arabs. On the Abyssinian 
plateau mixed breeds continue, but the Arab element is increasing. 
On the plain of Sennaar there are no less than six denominations 
between the more or less pure Arab and the pure negro : (1) The 



374. CROSSING. [Chap. vii. 

El-Asfar, or yellow ; (2) The El-Kat Fatelobem, analogous to the 
Abyssinians ; (3) The El-Akdar, or red ; (4) The El-Azraq, or blue ; 
(5) The El-Ahcdar, or green ; and (6) The Ahbits. or Noubas, 
whose hair is not absolutely woolly. 

The mixed breeds between races more widely separated remain 
fertile ; but to what extent do they remain so 1 Is the inter- 
mediate race produced directly or by collaterals? easily, or with 
difficulty, in the former case 1 

The mixed breeds of negroes and Europeans have various names, 
according to their relative proportion of blood. The first are called 
mulattoes, the second tierceroons, the third quadroons, the fourth 
quintroons, &c., without mentioning a "number of local terms 
for mixed breeds of every shade. They form a peculiar race, 
and are paragenesic. There is no doubt about this ; but are they 
also eugenesic '? IS^ott made a comparison of the mixed breeds of 
Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida, and found a difference between 
them as regards fecundity; and came to the conclusion that the 
hybrids of the Anglo-Saxon race with the negro are sterile for the 
first or second generation, while the offspring of the brown race 
of Europe with the negro are of better constitution and decidedly 
fertile. 

The observations of Long in the English colony of Jamaica, as 
well as examples of an opposite description in Cuba, Hayti, and 
Porto-Eico — French and Spanish colonies — go to strengthen this 
view. 

Jaquinot, "Waitz, Van Amringe, Hamilton Smith, and Seemann, 
on the other hand, speak of the fertility of negroes with Europeans 
of every description. There is considerable difficulty about the 
matter, there being no statistics establishing the distinction 
between the first and second blood. The white woman generally 
refusing to marry a mulatto, and the latter to marry a negress, it 
becomes necessary, notwithstanding, that the mulatto should find a 
wife, and this he can only do generally among his own people. 
Once only have we any record on the subject, namely, in J^orth 
Carolina. There the caste of freemen was constituted entirely of 
mulattoes freed by their white fathers. The State, dismayed at 



/O 



Chap, vii.] CROSSING. 375 

the important position which, they assumed, put a stop to this 
liberation. Left to themselves their number diminished 29 per 
cent. The fact is the question has not yet been settled. 

Now let us pass to the continent of Africa. One of the argu- 
ments of Prichard in favour of the unlimited fecundity of all the 
human races was derived from a consideration of the Griquas, a 
race the issue of the union, at the close of the last century, of the 
Hottentots with the Dutch. Prichard was too dogmatical, and M. 
Broca justly remarks that the number of bastards at first was small, 
and was soon absorbed into the mass of Bosjesmans and Korannas, 
with whom they became amalgamated, so that, in 1825, the Griquas 
might be looked upon as having reverted to the aboriginal type. 
If the experiment failed through the excess of reversions, it never- 
theless succeeded at first. The English author also mentioned the 
existence of Malayo-Papuans in the Malay Archipelago, on the 
authority of Quoy and Gaimard. We think he was right, and the 
existence of these mixed breeds seems to us demonstrated by 
craniology, although some are now considered to be negritos. 

One of the arguments in favour of dysgenesis was drawn from 
a consideration of the Australians. Until within the last few years 
only three or four instances were known of their interbreeding 
with Europeans, and these were mentioned incidentally by 
Ereycinet, Quoy, Gaimard, and Lesson. Those mentioned by 
Mackenzie and Eobert Dawson had been unnoticed. The frequency 
of the intercourse between whites and the Australian Gins was, 
however, a matter of general notoriety. But subsequently Miles, 
Murray (of Sydney), P. Beveridge, and E. Lee have stated that 
they have seen them, and that they are common, especially on the 
borders of the regions occupied by the squatters, to whom they 
were of great service. An undoubted example has been given 
by Stokes. Erom 1800 to 1805 some English seal-fishers settled 
in Bass's Straits had exchanged, for the seals they had taken 
on the banks of the Strait, some Australian and Tasmanian 
women. 

In 1846 they had given bu^th to a numerous progeny. On 
Preservation Island alone there were 25 children, or rather grand- 



376 CROSSING. [Ckap. vir. 

cMldren, seeing that the first unions had taken place more than 40 
years previously. Mr. Stokes says they are excellent sailors. The 
fact that a great number of Australian mixed breeds are to be- met 
with in the towns and plantations has lately been confirmed in a 
letter received by us from M. de Castelnau, French consul at 
Melbourne, as also at a personal interview with M. E. Simon, 
French consul at Sydney. We have yet to know within what 
limits the mulattoes are the more frequent, whether by collaterals or 
by the first blood. '^ 

The accounts furnished by Prichard, in 1856, respecting the 
mixed breeds of the Melanesians of the Fiji islands, appear 
applicable to Australians. He says the half-blood mongrels are less 
fertile inter se than those of the original stock ; in other words, 
their cross-breeds are eugenesic, but they thrive less than the 
paragenesic. 

From the foregoing we must conclude that the rule as regards 
the human race is eugenesic, but that certain races are less fruitful 
between themselves by their first-blood mongrels than by their 
collaterals. It is only a question of degree. Consequently these 
may always be produced either directly or indirectly, a strictly 
intermediate race between two races as distant as any now existing 
on the globe. Frequently the race will become extinct before 
being fixed by a sufficient repetition of the laws of inheritance, or 
because external circumstances and acclimation will not favour it. 
Frequently, owing to the predominance of one or the other ele- 
ment, there will be a progressive reversion towards one of the 
mother-races, as in the case of the Griquas, But time and circum- 
stances acting together, the product of that race wiU be inevitable. 
Let us suppose that the cross is only paragenesic, the result will be 
the same. Let there be two parallel and cross races, the one formed 
by a reversion of the mongrels of the first blood towards the white, 
the other by a reversion towards the black. Once established, 
their anthropological distance will be evidently less than between 
the two primitive mother-races. Supposing the cross intei- se 

* " Note surles Metis d'Australiens et d'Europeens," in "Revue d'Anthro- 
pologie," by P. Topinard, vol. iv., 1876. 



Chap, vii.] INHERITANCE. 377 

recommences, it will still form two new races inclining in the same 
way, the one towards the white, the other towards the black, but 
more nearly allied the one to the other than the preceding. Their 
establishment being produced in the same way, and the operation 
being repeated, the distance will be once more lessened, so that at 
a certain moment there will be none at all, and between the two 
original black and white races there will spring up a definite and 
strictly intermediate race. There is no other way of accounting 
for the infinite number of races now in existence, which have taken 
their origin from two neighbouring races, having all the appearance 
of comparatively pure races. In a series of 100 New Caledonian 
skulls, one-third represents a more or less peculiar and well-defined 
type, resembling no other with which we are acquainted, and which 
is the extinct Melanesian type — one-third is indistinguishable from 
the most characteristic Polynesian skulls — and one-third is the 
superposition, or mixture in various proportions, of the characters of 
the two other types. 

In time the average type will be that of a New Caledonian race, 
and yet at a remote period there had been these two types pro- 
foundly different. Formerly, when seas and forests caused man- 
kind to be more isolated, the accidental characters in a race were 
confirmed, their aspect remained unchanged. Now that immigration 
has assumed such vast proportions, the characters are less distinct. 
Crossing is the principal agent in the confusedness of races^ as 
hereditary influence and external circumstances are the principal 
agents in their separation. The one will introduce imity in the 
future, the others must have produced plurality in the past.* 



Inlieritance. 

In every individual, or in every generation of individuals, there 
are two opposite tendencies : the one to divergence, or variability 

* We are compelled to omit many notices of books for want of space. 
The reader is referred especially to tlie article " Metis," by Dr. Dally, in 
the '* Encycl. des Sciences Medicales," 2nd series, vol. vii. 



378 INHERITANCE. [Chap. yii. 

of characters ; the other to concentration, or perpetuation of these 
characters. The force presiding over the latter is inheritance, 
which may be defined as the property of living beings of repeating 
themselves, or of reproducing themselves under the same forms 
and Avith the same attributes. A white man removed to a hot 
country assumes such a dark colour as to be almost taken for a 
black. His child, however, is born white, and continues so as 
long as he is not exposed to the same atmospheric conditions. The 
Jews of Cochin are generally darker in colour, nevertheless they 
are white ; their children are born white, and their wives, being 
sheltered from exposure to the sun, are white. It is so with the 
Eerbers and Arabs, who are often very dark. The reason of this 
is that the white colour is a fixed character of these races, that is 
to say dating back to the remote past. Thus from inheritance 
emanates the law of permanence of types, which show the identity 
between the ancient Egyptian type, as represented on monuments 
of five or six thousand years ago, and the type of Eellahs which 
still inhabit the banks of the Nile; the identity of the Jewish 
types of that period and of the present, and the persistence of 
character here and there of the Cro-Magnon man in the midst of 
peoples who have succeeded them, and into which they have 
become absorbed. 

If physical characters, the existence of which is lost in the 
obscurity of past ages, are transmitted without appreciable change, 
is it so with characters acquired accidentally at a later period 1 If 
we look at the custom among the Chinese of squeezing the foot, 
which has been practised for a thousand years, without its size 
b^ing diminished; at the use of circumcision among the Jews, 
as well as at the non-transmissibility of artificial deformations 
of the skull, we should be disposed to answer in the negative. 
Eut in the first two cases, and generally in the third, the defor- 
mation has only to do with one sex. Goss maintained, indeed, 
that the deformations of the skull practised on both sexes during 
many generations, became hereditary. The question is still an 
open one; but we must not conceal from ourselves the fact that 
the vertical flattening of the nucha among the Malays, the Syrians, 



Chap, vii.] INHERITAISrCE. 379 

and many Americans, favours this opinion. The inheritance of 
polydactylia — a deformity which frequently takes place through 
three or four or five generations simultaneously in many families — 
also deserves consideration. In all these cases, marriages take 
place outside the families predisposed. If they had had their 
origin from within, who knows whether a new race of polydactyls 
might not have been produced *? It is true an objection maybe 
made to these cases, as well as to other hereditary deformities 
mentioned by Scoutetten as hypospadias, and cleft palate, namely, 
that the cause which at first engendered the anomaly spontaneously 
is alone perpetuated ; in a word, that there is only an hereditary 
predisposition. But among animals in which selection practised 
by Man's hand favours the development of a character, an acci- 
dental lesion has frequently become the origin of a particular race. 
Thus the hornless oxen, or those with very rudimentary horns, of 
Paraguay, the short-legged sheep of Massachusetts, the races of 
tailless dogs. What has been produced by selection, cannot chance 
perpetuate 1 

In a pure race all the individuals resemble each other as regards 
their main features. The law of inheritance is that the son is the 
reproduction of his father and mother. We are told that the 
Andamans and the Todas are all alike. We can hardly say so of 
the Greenlanders. M. Broca has in his laboratory five skulls of 
Patagonians which are identical. But these are rarities. Among 
the inscrutable influences which cause the child to put on such and 
such characters, there is a conflict of all the elements which figure 
in his genealogy. He resembles his mother during a portion of his 
existence, at a later period he becomes like his father, and some- 
times like some distant relative. We have seen that in a hybrid 
we take into account the quantity of blood belonging to one or the 
other side. So with respect to inheritance, there is a struggle 
between the characters; some are added, others are neutralised, 
while others have no reciprocal influence. The most remote an- 
cestors have their share in it as well as the nearest relatives. 
M. de Quatref ages knew a great-grandson of the bailiff of Suffren who 
was a striking likeness of his ancestor after four generations, and 



380 INHEEITANCE. [Chap. vii. 

who, nevertheless, bore no resemblance either to his father or his 
mother. It is thus that we account for the horse unexpectedly 
presenting the characteristic stripes of the zebra, which might have 
formed part of his zoological genealogy. This phenomenon is termed 
atavism, and is common in Man, An individual presents the features 
of a past generation which has been absolutely forgotten. The 
appearance of such characters is therefore a matter of chance ; or 
rather, there are in the germ certain latent influences which it is 
impossible to fathom. Certain characters retain their hold more 
firmly than others, such as the shape of the nose or of the ear. 
Everyone recognises the Bourbon nose. M, L. Rousselet met with 
it at the Bhopal court in Central India, in a direct descendant of 
Francis I. Waitz says one of the most frequently quoted examples 
is that of the thick lip of the house of Hapsburg since its alliance 
with the ancient house of Jagellon. 

Intellectual qualities are transmitted, as well as physical characters. 
In the family of Bach there were thirty-two musicians. It is the 
same as regards morbid affections. In all these there is a trans- 
mission of anatomical forms, either original or acquired by no 
matter what process, and by education among others. In the law 
of inheritance, as in aU the other laws of the universe, there is, 
nothing of an occult kind. Here like begets like. The following 
are the principal forms of inheritance : (a) Continuous inheritance, 
when the son resembles the father and mother, and these resemble 
their parents ; (h) Interrupted inheritance, when, without resembling 
either father or mother, he is like his grandfather: this is very 
remarkable as regards the transmission of disease, and is frequently 
alternating ; (c) Gollateral inheritance, when the child resembles an 
uncle or a great-uncle ; [d) Atavic inheritance, when the resemblance 
goes back still farther. We need not say that the accounts of re- 
semblance to a stranger who might have struck the attention of 
the mother during pregnancy are fables. So we must only accept 
with reservation those cases where the child might have had the 
features of its mother's first husband. 

The characters which mongrels exhibit are only applications of the 
law of inheritance, the consequences of which are reduced to a 



Chap, vil] INEEEITANCE. 381 

calculus of probability. Sometimes the mongrel of the first blood is 
exactly intermediate between the two parents as regards the colour 
of the skin and the character of the hair, as M. Pruner-Bey has 
shown, or as regards the proportions of the skeleton, as M. Broca 
has stated. One of the varieties of Zambos, or mixed breeds of 
negroes and Americans, is the Cafuso, in whom the hair is very 
curly, and coarse enough to form a huge bristly wig. Sometimes 
this mongrel embodies in himself a portion of the characters of one 
or other parent;, for example, as in the mulatto mentioned by 
M. de Quatrefages, the intelligence of the father and the features of 
the mother. In this group are the piebald mongrels, whose skin is 
black in some places and white in others, or white on the whole of 
the lateral or upper half of the body and black on the other. 
Sometimes the child possesses altogether the character of one or 
other parent : for example, the child of a European father and a 
Chinese mother, Dr. Scherzer says, is altogether a European or 
altogether a Chinese. A Berber with blue eyes and with the lobule 
of the ear absent, married to a dark Arab woman with a well-formed 
ear, had two children, one like himself, the other like his wife. 
An English officer, fair, with blue eyes and florid complexion, had 
several children by an Indian negress. Some were the image of the 
father, others exactly like the mother. Lucas mentions the case of 
a negress who had three children at a birth; one was white, one 
black, and one fawn-coloured; that is to say of the colour of a 
quarter-blooded hybrid between a negro and a mulatto (De Quatre- 
fages). 

Examples of interrupted, collateral, and atavic inheritance are 
numerous among mixed breeds, and it is then in fact that they are 
the most striking. A decided negro having had a white among his 
ancestors has unexpectedly a child with a white skin by a negress. 
Instances of this have been repeated regularly every second genera- 
tion : this is alternate inheritance. 

The peculiarities of one or the other race are more particularly 
apt to be retained. The coarse hair of the American, or the wooUy 
hair of the negro, for example. The most persistent character of 
the reversion from the negro to the white is the yellow colour of the 



382 INHERITANCE. [Chap, vil 

nails, and the want of firmness of tlie cartilages of the nose. The 
child of a negro father and a white mother will be more like the 
father than the child of a white father and a negro mother will be 
like his father (Waiiz, Fitzroy). Pallas relates that the mongrel 
produced by the alliance of the Eussian with the Mongolian will 
be more like the latter than the former. Others maintain the 
reverse. 

It is asked whether crossing produces an improvement or de- 
terioration of races in an intellectual point of view, and whether 
they ought to be encouraged. But the external conditions in which 
the new race is found have been too much overlooked, as when 
considering their degree of vitality we lose sight of their acclimation. 
Half-casts are often excluded from the society into which they are 
thrown. So they readily adopt its vices, and use them against it 
byway of retaliation. The majority of the examples which we 
have are rather favourable to them. The Griquas, if they are not 
equal to the Dutch, are superior to the aborigines. The mongrels 
of Java are better, according to Dr. Yvan, than the Malays. It is 
impossible to doubt but that the Polynesians have gained by cross- 
ing with whites. The Australian mongrels of Bass's Straits were 
very clever, according to Stokes. The highest encomiums were 
passed upon the houndary-riders, who were Australian half-breeds. 
If, in America, the Zambos occupied the prisons , of Lima and 
Mexico, the Cafusos are described in most glowing terms by Spix 
and Martins. Mulattoes in the United States are exempt from 
yellow fever the same as negroes. Their mongrel reversions 
towards the white have, in various degrees, a similar immunity. 

M. de Gobineau attributes to crossing the disasters of empires 
and the degradation of races. JSTott maintains that if it were 
general it would lead to the extinction of the human race. Knox 
and Perier did not believe that civilisation could make progress 
except with pure races. M. Dally thinks that in an equal struggle^ 
the superiority would remain with the pure races. Bodichon, on 
the other hand, declares that the era of universal peace and fraternity 
will be realised by crossing; and Thevenot, Deschamps, Serres,. 
Waitz, and De Quatrefages hold a similar opinion. 



Chap. Yii.] CONSANGUINEOUS UNIONS* 383 

Dare we say, after tliese authorities, that tlie problem is neverthe- 
less a simple one 1 Two pure races will have a better progeny ; 
two impure races a worse. Two races, the one pure, the other 
impure, will have an impure progeny relatively to the superior race, 
and pure relatively to the inferior. The law of inheritance is 
exerted with rigid exactness, but a multitude of other conditions 
are mingled with it, which we cannot separate from it — such as the 
action of external circumstances, acclimation, morals, education, 
and social laws. 

The number of mongrels on the face of the globe has been 
estimated at 12 millions, of whom no fewer than 11 millions are 
in South America, 3000 in Oceania, &c. But has a computation 
been specially made of those of Europe ] Gerdy states that there 
are no pure races in Europe. Does crossing increase fecundity '? 
This is the really important question. We reply : Certainly not 
between races anthropologically very remote from each other, but 
jDrobably so between contiguous races. M. de Quatrefages, however, 
thinks that even in the former case fecundity is increased. 
M. Broca remarks that in France the population has increased 
since the Eevolution, owing to the intermingling of the classes 
which were originally constituted of victors and vanquished. 



Consanguineous Unions. 

Our conclusion on the subject of crossing was that the more 
nearly allied the races, the greater were the chances of fecundation 
between two individuals. Carrying this out to its logical sequence, 
the result would be that in the same tribe or in the same family 
the most nearly related ought to be the most fertile. But it seems 
that in this case we must distinguish between the number and the 
quality of the progeny. Breeders who select their subjects with a. 
definite object to breed in and in, that is to say between near 
relations, rapidly obtain excellent results. They know, however, 
that fertility then diminishes, and that it will cease altogether if 
they do not have recourse from time to time to crossing, in order 



384 CONSANGUINEOUS UNIONS. [Chap. yii. 

to strengthen the race. Extreme fecundity and superiority of race 
would therefore be two contradictory terms, which may be a 
consolation to those who maintain, though improperly, that the 
fecundity of the French is diminishing. But is it with Man as 
with animals'? The question of consanguineous unions has been 
discussed at the Societe Anthropologique, by Boudin, Dally, and 
De Eanse. It is said that blindness, pigmentary retinitis, albinism, 
epilepsy, idiotcy, mental aberration, sterility, scrofula, abortion, 
hare-lip, and deaf-muteness are more frequent after unions among 
kindred. It is necessary to produce facts in support of this statement. 
Dr. Yoisin went to pursue his studies in the borough of Batz, in 
the peninsula of Croisic, among an isolated population who only 
married among themselves. As the result of 46 marriages between 
first cousins or second cousins, he found 174 children not one of 
whom exhibited either of the above ailments. The conclusion was 
obvious, viz. that consanguineous unions, even if closely allied, 
were not attended with hurtful consequences. Other facts have 
been observed by M. Terrier at Pauillac (Gironde) ; by M. G-ubler 
at Gaust, in the Pyrenees; by M. Dally in the island of Brehat 
(Cotes-du-N'ord) ; by Dr. Duchenne, of Boulogne, at Portel. All 
are agreed upon the matter. Beyond the seas, one example alone 
will suffice. The Todas of the Mlgherries are endogamous. They 
all marry among themselves, and are all related to one another in 
some way. Their wives are polyandrous, and have sometimes four 
or five brothers for husbands; and notwithstanding all this, the 
race has for ages been one of the finest in India. Out of 196 
individuals, Mr. Marshall found only two suffering from any 
infirmity. 

In conclusion, it seems clear that unions between cousins and 
second cousins are followed by excellent results when both are 
healthy, and that, on the contrary, morbid predispositions being 
added, their effects are proportionately felt by the offspring. As 
to alliances between direct kindred and blood-relations, the ques- 
tion is yet suh judice. We may remark that the laws of civilised 
countries have only forbidden them on moral and social grounds. 



Chap. Till.] INFLUENCE OF MILIEUX. 38S 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

INFLUENCE OF MILIEUX ACCLIMATION WEIGHT OF THE BODY 

MUSCULAR FORCE PULSE RESPIRATION INTELLECTUAL 

FUNCTIONS — PATHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS. 



Influence of Milieux. 

In antagonism with inheritance, which preserves the characters, and 
the crosses, which bind them together, there is, as we have said, the 
variabihty which multiplies them, and tends to make them diverge. 
Varieties are produced under two influences. (1) During intra- 
uterine life, spontaneously and as it were by accident; (2) In the 
course of existence, by external circumstances, or milieux. The 
doctrine of Darwin rests entirely on the former, that of Lamarck 
and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire on the latter. At present we shall 
only examine facts respecting these latter, without reference to 
theories. 

Under the name of milieux, M. de Quatrefages includes 
"the ensemble of conditions or influences of every kind, whether 
physical, moral, or intellectual, which may act upon organised 
beings;" in a word, all the external causes capable of producing, 
either directly or indirectly, a change in living organs. We shall 
confine ourselves to the most manifest characters, relative to which 
there has been the greatest diff'erence of opinion. 

The colour of the skin, it is said, is variable, and results from 
atmospheric causes. Eaces are regularly distributed from the 
equator to the poles — the darkest in hot countries, the lightest 
in cold. Let us see if this is so at the present time, for those 
of the orthodox school make no allusion here to the past, it is 
already known to them ; this is the Adamic version. 

The peoples nearest to the north pole are the Esquimaux, the 
Samoiedes, and the Lapps, with tawny complexions, black hair and 

2 c 



386 INFLUENCE OF MILIEUX. [Chap. vni. 

eyes, and have dwelt in these icy latitudes from the most remote 
periods. Let lis remember that there is a general harmony be- 
tween the colour of the skin and that of the hair and iris, which 
colour depends on the increase or diminution *of pigmentary 
matter in the organism. At a lower latitude, in a country with a 
relatively elevated temperature, are the Scandinavians, in Europe, 
a race with a lighter skin, hair, and eyes than perhaps any in the 
world, and the Fins, with fair complexion, chestnut or red hair, 
and gray or greenish eyes. In Asia there are whole populations 
with black hair and eyes, but with yellow complexions, and in 
America, Indians with complexions of a reddish hue. 
The doctrine is at fault from the very beginning. 
At the south pole the first habitable regions that we meet with 
are at about 34 degrees south latitude, and are peopled by the 
Peschernis, with olive or tawny complexion, next to which are the 
Patagonians, whose complexion is darker, and the Charruas, whose 
complexion is analogous to that of mulattoes, if not darker. In 
the other hemisphere there are the Tasmanians, with a complexion 
as black as soot, with a slightly yellowish tinge in it, and the yellow- 
tawny Hottentots, close to the Kaffirs, who are entirely black. 
l!^othing is as yet favourable to the doctrine of which Prichard was 
the interpreter. If we go to the equator we meet with facts 
equally contradictory. In America the ancient Indians of Cali- 
fornia were as black at 42 degrees north latitude as the negroes of 
Guinea, while farther south there were tribes of an olive or reddish 
complexion, relatively light. So in Africa, the darkest negroes are 
at 12 or 15 degrees north latitude, while their colour becomes 
lighter the nearer they approach the equator. 

" The Yoloffs," says Golberry, " are a proof that the black colour 
does not depend entirely on solar heat, nor on the fact that they 
are more exposed to a vertical sun, but arises from other causes, for 
the farther we go from the influence of its rays the more the black 
colour is diminished in intensity." In the tropics, among the 
Tawareks of the Sahara, the Affghans of India, and on the banks 
of the Orinoco and the Amazon, in the midst of a dark population, 
we meet with whole tribes with fair complexion, light hair, and 



Chap. VIII.] INFLUENCE OF MILIEUX. 387 

blue eyes. But it is said these irregularities are due to local cir- 
cumstances, such as altitude. Prichard says fair ' complexions are 
to be seen more in mountainous districts, and dark in the plains. 
Thus the Swiss, in the lofty mountains of Lombardy, have brown 
or red hair, while the Milanese, in the plain, have black hair. The 
Berbers, of fair complexion, are seen principally in the Aures 
mountains, and the dark in the plain. The negroes of the table- 
lands are less dark than those of the low plains near the shores of 
the Gulf of Guinea, &c. In the higher regions of Enarea and 
Kaffas, in Abyssinia, we find the natives are of a lighter com- 
plexion than in Europe, &c. All these are examples upon which 
we can rely, but we might mention some of an altogether opposite 
character. M. de Quatrefages states that the Abyssinians become 
black on leaving the plains for the heights, which he attributes to 
the more direct action of the sun's rays. The Antisian race of the 
low plains of Peru is white in comparison with the Aymaras and 
the Quinchas of the high table-lands {U Orhigny). Humboldt says: 
^'The Indians of the torrid zone, who inhabit the most elevated 
plains of the Cordillera of the Andes, and those who are engaged 
in fishing at the 45th degree of south latitude, in the islands of the 
Clionos Archipelago, have the same copper colour as those who, 
under a scorching climate, cultivate the banana in the deepest and 
narrowest valleys of the equinoctial region." He adds that the 
tribes of the Rio Negro have a more sunburnt complexion than 
those of the Upper Orinoco, notwithstanding that the banks of the 
former are colder than those of the latter. 

The smooth or crisp character of the hair would be equally due to 
climate, according to the doctrine of the influence of external circum- 
stances [milieux). Heat and dryness cause the hair to roll into spirals, 
but it will not produce flattening to the same extent. Is it not 
the reverse as regards animals ? The woolly fleece of the sheep of 
temperate countries would be transformed into a fleece with straight 
hair towards the equator. Moreover, there are negroes Avith very 
woolly hair even in Tasmania, at a latitude of 45 degrees south, 
and we know that in the southern hemisphere the temperature 
is much colder than in similar latitudes in the north. On the 

2 c 2 



388' INFLUENCE OF MILIEUX. [Chap. viii. 

contrary, in the tropics, there are blacks with smooth straight hair, 
as the Australians, the blacks of the Deccan^ the Himyarites of the 
Yemen, &c. How is it, according to the above hypothesis, that 
the heat has exerted its influence on the skin and not on the 
hair? The stature has also been attributed to the influence of 
external circumstances, especially to food, to differences of tempera- 
ture, and to altitude. We have referred to this at page 319. We 
only remark that if the Peruvians are small on the most elevated 
table-lands of the globe, the Malays, called Orangs lautts, on 
the coast of the peninsula of Malacca, and the Andamans, at sea- 
level, are still more so ; which subverts the opinion of D'Orbigny, 
that the tall Kaffirs and the diminutive Bosjesmans live side by 
side in the same forests of southern Africa; that the Todas at 
the top of the I^ilgherries are tall, and live only on pulse and 
milk-food, while the Irulas and the Krumbas on either side of them 
are comparatively short, and live on the flesh of the buff'alo ; that 
the Scandinavians in their cold countries, the negroes at the 
equator, the Kedskins in the Eocky Mountains, the Tehuelches in 
the sands of Patagonia, and the Polynesians in the low islands of 
the Pacific, are all very tall under the most opposite conditions. 
" I have observed," says M. Broca, " that the stature of the French, 
generally speaking, does not depend upon altitude or latitude, is 
not a question of poverty or riches, of character of soil or of food, 
nor is it the result of any other external condition; but I have been 
led to believe it to arise solely from a general influence, that of 
ethnic inheritance." 

We have no proof, indeed, that in the present state of things, 
and in the very short time during which our observations have 
extended, there has ever been produced an important and heredi- 
tary change of a physical character under the influence of external 
circumstances. Wherever we meet either with Arabs or Jews, 
their type is the same, as we learn from Egyptian monuments. 
At Leyden, the Jew is said to be simply a little lighter, at Algiers 
of a yellowish tint, in India to be dark. There is no doubt as 
to the last. At Cochin, on the coast of Malabar, there are — (1) 
Black Jews ; these are native converts ; (2) White Jews, who 



Chap. Yiii.] INFLUENCE OF MILIEUX. 389 

came there at the period of the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
whose history can be traced back at least six centuries. I^ow 
these have remained white, or rather brown, from the climate, and 
as compared with ourselves, but white as compared with the sur- 
rounding nations. Their children are born white, and their wives 
when not exposed to the sun remain white. 

Notwithstanding all we have said, external circumstances have 
an undeniable influence certainly. Vegetables become white when 
excluded from the light, and not only on the surface but throughout 
their entire substance, and it even affects their flavour, and extends 
to other properties of the sap. The animals of the polar regions • 
become white on the approach of winter. The small and puny 
oxen of the Sologne when transported to the valleys of the Loire, 
in one or two generations assume an entirely altered appearance as 
regards their size and quality. Peasants and sailors become tawny 
on exposure to the open air and in hot countries, on the uncovered 
parts of the body. But in the last-mentioned case the influence is 
confined to the individual, it is not hereditary ; it is also different 
in different races. We have said that dark and fair Europeans do 
not tan equally when exposed to the air ; the former readily become 
black, the latter become sunburnt, and of a brick-red hue, or 
assume a yellowish tint, which Monrad considers as the first 
evidence on the coast of Guinea of having become acclimatised. 
This yellowish colour passes into that of copper, and becomes 
darker in each succeeding generation. The Chinese also become 
black on exposure to the sun during the summer, and light in 
winter. There is a vast distinction between this and the individual's 
transmission of an acquired character to his posterity. The 
individual becomes black as he becomes fat. If excluded from 
exposure to the sun, and his food is scanty, he becomes pale and 
thin. 

In the Sandwich Islands an opposite phenomenon takes place 
(Ohoris). The children when first born are black, the people 
of distinction dark brown, and the labouring people of a lighter 
tint, or orange colour. But this is a different matter; one 
ought perhaps to look upon the two classes as two distinct races. 



390 INFLUENCE OF MILIEUX. [Chap. viii. 

Nevertheless we admit that modifications of physical characters 
might be produced, if not nnder our very eyes, at least in the 
course of time, and might be added to from age to age. "We must 
admit that these things might be explained physiologically according 
to this hypothesis. 

Stature, for example, is the result of two influences. (1) Of 
the race, or rather of the predominance of action of such race 
whether a paternal or maternal ; and (2) Of a concurrence of hygienic 
circumstances. According as the nutrition of the skeleton goes on 
properly or not, its ossification is or is not regular — ^the epiphyses 
are united to the diaphyses soon or late — so will the individual be 
either tall or short. 

Let the accident be repeated, let the phenomenon go on in the 
same way during many generations, it will become a habit (in 
medicine we recognise pathological as well as physiological habits,, 
and their tenacity and hereditary character are truly remarkable), 
and soon a regularly transmissible character. "We cannot there- 
fore be surprised to see the persistence with which travellers, those 
in Australia for example, assert that individuals of low stature in 
that country, are badly fed, poorly clad, and miserable, while tall 
statures are characteristic of the natives of the interior, who are 
strong and healthy, having every resource within their reach. 
Individual varieties unquestionably depend partly on external 
circumstances, and partly on the state of the health. M. Eroca 
himself allows this as regards certain differences between the sexes. 
Some statistics of Quetelet relative to healthy and diseased children 
prove it. 

The increase of the pigmentary matter might also be easily 
explained in this way. The cutaneous system, excited by contact 
with the air, heat, and light performs its functions more readily, 
its glandular apparatus secretes more, and the black matter is de- 
posited in greater abundance in the cellules beneath the epidermis. 
From this cause, and probably by reflex action upon the supra-renal 
capsules or the liver, the hypersecretion would be diffused through 
the entire organism, and the colouring matter derived from the 
blood, from the biliary matter, or from elsewhere, would increase. 



Chap. Yiii.] INFLUENCE OF MILIEUX. 391 

Peculiarities proper to each race wonld be that one would become 
decidedly black, another yellowish or olive, a third reddish. An 
objection of this sort might arise : Why the parts exposed to the air 
are not the only ones black 1 The opposite phenomenon, a want 
of excitation, would, on the contrary, produce pallor, that is to say 
a sort of anaemia, as in miners. The white Antisians of Peru, says 
D'Orbigny, live at the foot of perpendicular rocks, under enormous 
trees, the branches of which form a vast arbour impenetrable to the 
rays of the sun, where the atmosphere is humid, and the vegetation 
luxuriant. Their five tribes live there enveloped in darkness, and 
are of lighter complexion than the Moxos of the adjoining open 
plains, and the Aymaras on the elevated plateaux. As regards the 
increase of the volume of the skull and all the craniometrical 
characters which result from it, the explanation would be no less 
easy. The more the brain works the more does it continue to 
increase beyond its ordinary term of growth, and the sutures are 
closed later. The small size at the present day of the skull of 
women relatively to that of men, as compared with that which it 
was at the prehistoric period represented by the two beautiful 
series from the cavern of L'Homme Mort and the Baye caves in the 
department of La Marne, would arise from an opposite cause. The 
variations of the forms and proportions of the skeleton might be all 
explained in the same way, by virtue of the physiological law, that 
the function makes the organ. The more work a limb, or an 
organ, or a muscle does, the more it increases in volume ; changes 
at the same time taking place in the parts with which it is con- 
nected. The femur a colonne, the platycnemic tibia, the large chest 
of individuals compelled to take deep inspirations, the corpulence 
of persons who confine themselves principally to a vegetable diet^ 
and whose meals are irregular, and sometimes very large in quantity 
are accounted for in this way. 

No explanation can be given as to the varieties of the hair in 
its fundamental types. For example, the straight and round, the 
woolly and flat hair, as seen under the microscope. In this lies the 
most serious objection to the theory of the derivation of characters 
from one another. In the present state of science we have no 



392 ACCLIMATION. [Chap. yiii. 

explanation to give on the subject. Individuals experience the 
influence of external conditions under our own personal observation, 
but they do not visibly transmit the changes so made — there is no 
authentic instance of it. The distribution of characters according 
to altitudes and latitudes has exclusively to do with the fortuitous 
migration of peoples. In the present state of science, and as far as 
our limited investigations extend, the law of permanence of types 
remains intact. Moreover, physiology enables us to understand the 
mechanism by virtue of which new characters might take their 
origin. Under what exceptional conditions, at present unknown 
to us, may not hereditary influence, that great conservative force, 
depart from its extreme strictness 1 This is the question. It is 
quite clear that the variations of climate and conditions of life are 
very slight now in comparison with what they necessarily were 
formerly. The fact is that Man has not always known how to 
guard against the preponderating influence of external agencies, 
nor has he always been able to leave the country under every 
change of circumstances. ]N"o new race, having characters other 
than those of the mixed races produced from crossing, has been 
created within our knowledge; and moreover, everything compels 
us to believe that there was a greater tendency to change at a 
remote period in the past than there is at present, and this belief 
has found a support in the law of hereditary influence. 

It is one of two things : either races have been created originally 
in infinite number, and have since become diminished by natural 
extinction or by crossing, or they have been multiplied under the 
influence of climate and external circumstances.* 

Acclimation. 

There is but a step from the influence of climate and external 
conditions to acclimation. Man, unlike the anthropoids, is found 
in all climates, and conforms himself to every condition of life ; but 

* See the articles " Altitude," by Leroy de Mericourt ; " Mesologie," by 
Bertillon; "Climat," by Fonssagriyes ; "Atmosphere," by Gavarret, &c., 
in " Encycl. des Sciences Medicales." 



Chap, viil] ACCLIMATION-. 393 

lie owes it to his intelligence, and pays the penalty. Let ns 
examine the question more closely. 

The words acclimation and acclimatisation are not synonymous. 
The former is understood of the spontaneous and natural accommo- 
dation to new climatic conditions, the latter of the intervention of 
Man in this accommodation. The one is the fact, the other the 
knowledge of the conditions and phenomena of accommodation ; 
the one is a physiological property of Man, and concerns anthro- 
pology, the other is in the domain of hygiene, of medicine, and of the 
schools. M. Bertillon has treated of them, from every point of view, 
with his usual critical acumen, and it will suffice for us to analyse 
his article, '' Acclimatement," in the " Encyclopedic des Sciences 
Medicales." M. Bertillon commences with a comparison of the 
statistics of births and deaths. He finds differences between one 
race and another, either in their general faculty of acclimation or in 
their capability of living in some latitudes in preference to others. 
He discovers differences even between European races. Thus the 
English become habituated to the climate of the United States, the , 
island of St. Helena, and the Cape of Good Hope, but they fail to 
do so in the Antilles and in India. In the same way the Germanic 
race thrives in the United States, but dies out in the tropics, and 
even in Algeria. The Dutch likewise. Under the name of Boers 
they continue to live under the most favourable conditions in the 
-colony of the Cape, the climate of which is very similar to that of 
our own country, while they perish under the scorching climate of 
the Malay peninsula. The French do well in Canada, in JS'ova 
Scotia, in the United States, in the Mauritius and the Friendly 
Islands, but as they approach the tropics their faculty of adaptation 
decreases. In the Antilles they succeed in making a first branch, 
but they do not increase, and require to receive fresh blood by 
crossing with foreigners up to the third or fourth generation. In 
Algeria the French belonging to the northern departments do not 
thrive, while those of the south make progress. In Madagascar, 
and especially in Senegal, no European race can hold out long. In 
^ew Caledonia the mortality among French emigrants is less than 
in France. The Spaniards, in whose blood there is much of the 



394 ■ ACCLIMATION. [Chap. yiii. 

Berber, adapt themselves -wonderfully to the climate of the southern 
part of the United States, of Mexico, the Antilles, and South 
America. These, with the Maltese and Jews, are the most favoured 
of Algerian colonists. The Portuguese share with them the same 
privileges. 

The Tschinghani, Gipsies, or Bohemians, are, of all peoples, 
those whom we meet with most universally. In the waste lands of 
Brazil, on the summit of the Himalayas, in Moscow, Madrid, 
London, Stamhoul, at 30 to 35 degrees centigrade above zero, 
in the torrid zones of India and Africa, they are to be found 
everywhere. The Israelites also possess a remarkable aptitude for 
becoming acclimatised ; but they do not advance so much towards 
the north, they proceed step by step, cautiously feeling their way, 
and follow the course of civilisation. The Arabs readily become 
acclimatised, but they remain in hot isothermal zones, and venture 
but little into the temperate zones. M. Bertillon does not speak 
of the Chinese, but everyone knows that they are much esteemed 
as labourers in Malacca, Australia, California, and the Antilles. 
Since the abolition of slavery in America, they are gradually taking 
the place of the negro, owing to their soon becoming accustomed 
to the climate; but we have not seen them emigrate into cold 
countries. 

Australia, although having the most opposite climates, is very 
suitable to Europeans of every nationality, while the Malay Archi- 
pelago, more especially the northern part, is very fatal to them ; 
Cochin-China the same. In Java and Sumatra the Dutch do 
not become acclimatised, and this no doubt is the cause of the 
sterility of certain of their mixed breeds with the aborigines for 
a definite number of generations. India is also fatal to Europeans;, 
but the low plains situated on the sea-shore, and the banks of the 
great 'rivers, must be distinguished from the elevated plateaux of 
Central India. The English have established sanitaria in the 
mountains, where they go to recruit their health. Egypt is no 
less remarkable for its insalubrity. Its present population is the 
same as it was in former days. It has never been maintained 
without being incessantly renewed by immigration. It is very 



Chap, viii.] ACCLIMATION. 396 

fatal even to the negro. The Mamelukes have had sway there for 
560 years, and not one has been able to keep up a persistent race. 
The rate of mortality among the negroes of Africa, even in their 
own country, is considerable. The birth rate however is very 
high; but for this they would become extinct. This mortality 
seems to be consequent on their indolence, and on their using 
no exertion for their well-being. We must not therefore be 
astonished at their success in America, where, particularly in the 
Antilles, and in the United States previously to the Avar, they 
were taken care of like valuable merchandise. In 1808, the 
period when the importation to that country ceased, they were 
400,000, in 1860 their number increased to 4,000,000. Since 
the war they have been compelled to look after themselves, and 
have returned to their natural indolence ; thus their number is- 
diminishing. So much for emigration into hot countries. In 
cold regions, Europeans do not readily become acclimatised, and 
negroes especially die rapidly. The fair population of Iceland 
is visibly decreasing, which is to be attributed to the island 
becoming progressively colder. The Esquimaux, who on their 
first arrival in Greenland found a climate which was more sup- 
portable than now, decreased for the same reason. At- St. Peters- 
burg the deaths exceed the births, and if the Slavs are masters- 
of the northern part of the continent, they owe it to their crossing 
with the Eins, and perhaps, more to the west, with the Samoiedes. 
Thus it appears that extremes of climate are not suitable to any 
race, and that if Man transports himself from one part of the 
globe to another, and settles down there, it is frequently at his 
peril, notwithstanding the resources with which his intelligence 
furnishes him. The fair races are especially adapted to temperate 
and cool regions, and the south is looked upon as almost forbidden 
ground. The brown races, on the contrary, have a remarkable 
power of becoming acclimatised. In the north they are represented 
by the Laplanders. They stretch away as far as the equator, 
the most characteristic of them especially. Eut when considering 
the question of removing from one climate to another, we must 
distinguish between slight and important changes, between those 



396 ACCLIMATION. [Chap. viii. 

which, are sudden and those which are progressive. M. Bertillon 
divides the accidental circumstances due to sudden acclimation in a 
new isothermal region, and are produced upon the individual and 
his progeny, into four groups or phases. (1) Sudden diseases; 
(2) Chronic consecutive ansemias, which place the individual in an 
unfavourable condition to resist accidental diseases, or make him 
quickly look old; (3) Diseases of early infancy in offspring horn 
in the country ; (4) Physical and intellectual degeneration, and the 
infertility of the second and third generations. (See page 372.) 

Very different are the circumstances connected with acclimation 
on a small scale. A family incapable of being suddenly transported 
from Paris to Senegal is well able to bear removal to Pau. In 
succeeding generations it will be able to go to Cadiz, many genera- 
tions afterwards to Morocco, and so on. It is thus that the slow 
immigrations from Central Asia have been accomplished — not the 
invasions of the barbarous tribes which rushed down upon Europe 
at the commencement of our era. Some of these migrations 
bearing off to the north-west would have reached comparatively 
cold countries, and others going south would find India, where at 
the present time some fair people are to be met with in a country 
where the English could not settle. The Esquimaux, before 
becoming acclimatised in their country of eternal snow, lived in 
Asia, at about the 40th degree of north latitude. All parts of 
a country are not equally unfavourable for acclimation. "Without 
speaking of a swamp here or a desert there, which increases the 
mortality among new-comers, there is the altitude to be taken into 
consideration. A family will not be able to become acclimatised 
at the level of the sea, and will thrive by ascending the course of 
a river or the sides of a mountain. High table-lands are in 
much request in all hot countries. The contradictory opinions of 
Jourdanet and Coindet relative to the residence of Europeans in 
elevated parts of Mexico, leave the question undecided. But in a 
Erench territory the experiment has been made. Whilst Bertillon 
and Eicoux come to the conclusion that the Germanic race, in a 
general way, does not become acclimatised in Algeria, we find in 
the entire province of Constantine, and on the whole line of the 



Chap. VIII.] ACCLIMATION. 397 

Atlas, from tlie Aiir^s mountains to Morocco, a large number of 
fair people, who have existed there for four or five thousand years. 
A circumstance favourable to permanent acclimation is the crossing, 
however little, with the native race, or with other races which 
have settled in the country at the same period with it, but with 
a greater power of acclimation. A small quantity of negro blood 
lessens the tendency to contract yellow fever. So at the Cape of 
Good Hope, in the United States, in Australia, and also in Algeria, 
the emigrant races must not be designated by their particular 
name, but must be looked upon as new mixed races, having their 
own special characters. Under these conditions the influence of 
climate and external circumstances appears even more marked, the 
same as in chemistry certain re-agents act more readily when 
bodies are brought into contact in the nascent state. After the 
greatest mortality, a few of the survivors are sufficient to serve 
as a starting-point for a new population. In a word, Man's 
restricted faculty of acchmation may favour, within certain limits, 
the diffusion and mixture of races on the face of the globe, and 
even the formation of new races ; but it is also an obstacle to 
their diffusion and transformation. It tends to allot them a place 
at the period which is the most suitable to them. This is why 
we see the negro races generally predominating in some zones, the 
brown or yellow in others, and the fair races in others. Having 
the minimum mortality in these zones, the race is kept up. The 
fair races, for example, far from being so on account of climate, as 
Prichard would have it, Avould only conform themselves to it in 
the same way as the prehistoric animals which went northwards, 
or southwards in the course of ages, according to the changes of 
temperature and vegetation. If we did not know that the climatic 
conditions of all parts of the globe have radically changed over and 
over again, we should deduce from this that tlie negro races took 
their rise on the continents of the inter-tro2:)ical zone, while the fair 
races originated in the cold or temperate regions of the north. It 
is thus that the faculty of accommodation to climate or acclima- 
tion, which varies according to race, furnishes an argument for 
the polygenistic doctrine. The two questions of crossing and of 



398 WEIGHT OF THE BODY. [Chap. viii. 

inheritance are connected with the functions, so mysterious, of 
reproduction ; those of external conditions and acclimation, to the 
more general function of nutrition. The two characters which 
exhibit the amount of vital energy in individuals, as well as in 
races, are the weight of the body and muscular strength. 



The Weight of the Body, 

Studied in its relation to age, profession, and stature, by Quetelet, 
Hutchinson, and Gould, does not possess the interest which has 
been extended to it. Its causes are various, such as hygiene, food, 
character of occupation, temperament, and race. The probable 
connection between these last two makes it the more difficult 
to consider the question of race by itself. The cases of exceptional 
obesity, due to high feeding or to indolence, are observed in all 
races from the Englishman to the Hottentot, and ought to be at 
once set aside, as well as those cases of extreme emaciation, conse- 
quent on habitually insufficient food, or continued exposure to the 
sun. The Arab, shrivelled up in the desert, becomes fat in the 
towns, especially his half-breeds. The Mongols, the Chinese, and 
the Polynesians readily become obese. 

The following averages of weight are only interesting as a matter 
of curiosity : 

Kilogrammes. 

507 Iroquois Indians (Gould) 73-8 

680 Mulattoes (Gould) 65'8 

12,740 Bavarians (Bernstein) 65"5 

400 Frenclimen (Bernard) 64-9 

1775 Negroes (Gould) " 64*9 

617 Englishmen (W. S. Thomson) 68*8 

9157 American soldiers of all nationalities (Gould) ... ... 64*4 

150 New Zealanders (W. S. Thomson) 63*9 

272 Magyars (Bernstein) 60*7 

356 Eoumanians (Bernstein) 58-4 

50 Hindoos, high caste (Shortt) 53*2 

60 Natives of the Caucasus (Shortt) ... ... ... 50*0 

50 Hindoos, low caste (Shortt) ... ... ... ... 48-7 

50 Natives, low caste, of the Nilgherries (Shortt) ... 44 "6 

39 „ low class, of the Madras coast (Shortt) ... 42*7 



'Chap, viii.] 



MUSCULAR STRENGTH. 



399 



Muscular Btrengtli. 

Muscular strength, is a more important subject, although we 
must consider it in its connection with the individual's state of 
health, food, age, and sex, as well as with the power acquired by 
the continued use of the muscles. The dynamometer, by the aid 
of which the experiments which we are about to mention were 
carried on, was invented by Eegnier, at the close of the last century, 
at the suggestion of Buffon. Chaussier was the iirsf to make use 
of it, then the travellers Peron, Freycinet, Quoy, and Gaimard, 
and lastly, Forbes, Quetelet, and the anthropologists of the Novarra 
and of the war of American secession, who modified it. It gives, 
at will, the force of pressure of the hands, and the force of vertical 
traction from below upwards, the two hands acting together in both 
cases ; that is to say the manual strength and the strength of the 
hack or loins, of authors. 

The following are some averages at five different periods to show 
the influence of age in two very opposite races. They are borrowed 
from Mr. Gould : 



17 years 
20 „ 
25 „ 
30 „ 
35 „ 
50 



and upwards, 



Number . 
of whites. 

171 
542 
296 
171 
371 
34 



Strength of 
the back. 
Kil. 
114 
150 
166 
160 
166 
146 



Number 
of negroes. 


Strength of 

the back. 

Kil. 


44 . 


.. 131 


142 . 


.. 140 


124 . 


.. 155 


39 . 


.. 153 


81 . 


.. 165 


11 . 


.. 132 



According to Mr. Gould, the maximum of muscular strength in 
both cases is at 31 years, and according to Quetelet at 25. It 
is evident that we must take the former. The following table, 
which it would have been easy to enlarge, bas reference to races. 
It is derived from various sources, and where not SjDecially men- 
tioned from Peron, Quoy, Gaimard, and the Novarra : 



MUSCULAR STRENGTH. 



[Chap. yiii. 





Manual strength 
Kil. 


Back strength 
Kil. 


122 Frencli 


61-0 


160 


23 Hawai Islanders 


60-1 


171 


84 Micronesians 


56-8 


150 


26 Timorians 


52-4 


118 


12 Tasmanians (Peron) ... 


50-6 


118 


30 Australians ... 


48-0 


100 


57 Chinese 


46-8 


111 


315 French seamen (Ransonne 


t) 46-8 


142 


6381 White soldiers (Gould) 


46-8 


155 


1141 „ seamen „ 


46-8 


130 


1600 Negroes 


46-8 


146 


704 Mulattoes 


46-8 


158 


503 Iroquois Indians „ 


46-8 


190 



Peron and Freycinet at first came to the conclusion tliat savage 
races were inferior in point of strength to the European races. But 




Fig. 41. — Mathieu's Djrnamometer. 



the aborigines upon whom their experiments were made were not 
in their own native forests, and were no doubt frightened during 
the experiment. The above averages clearly show that the Austra- 
lians are very defective in manual strength, but that the Chinese 
are still more so. Those with the greatest amount of strength 
in the back, on the other hand, are the Iroquois Indians, and after 
them the natives of the Sandwich Archipelago, l^egroes are 
undoubtedly stronger in the back than whites, but mulattoes 
are stronger than either. The muscular inferiority of the white 
seamen of Ransonnet and Gould clearly proves that the physio- 



Chap. VIII.] CIECULATION OF THE BLOOD. 401 

logical condition surpasses in all cases the anthropological condition. 
In his statistics Mr. Gould has separated the delicate from those in 
perfect health, the difference between them being considerable. 
Thus, in white soldiers of delicate constitution the strength of the 
back was 127 kilogrammes, and in those in health 155 kilo- 
grammes. 

Another and more portable dynamometer is recommended in 
the " Instructions de la Societe d' Anthropologic," that of Mathieu, 
figured in the preceding page. It measures the force of pressure 
with one hand, and the force of vertical traction, as with the 
instrument of Eegnier. In twenty-four Frenchmen, from 20 to 60 
years of age, the mean manual strength was 51*6 kilogrammes with 
the right arm. But it would be better to ascertain correctly the 
force of horizontal traction, as, according to M. Broca, it is this 
which gives more reliable results as between one race and another.* 

To the functions of nutrition indirectly belong those of the 
circulation, respiration, and digestion. All have reference to 
organic life, and cannot materially differ between one race and 
another. 



The Circulation of the Blood. 

The circulation of the blood may be summed up in one single 
phenomenon — the beating of the heart, as indicated by the pulse 
at the radial artery. But more than any other phenomenon it is 
subject to transient or permanent influences foreign to Anthropo- 
logical notions. The pulse varies with age, sex, individual 
peculiarity, stature, and also with the size of the body, before and 
during digestion, in the morning and at night, after exercise of any 
kind, and under the influence of emotion, even that caused by the 
examination of the individual. We cannot therefore deduce much 

* " Description et Usage du Dynamometre," by Eegnier, in " Journal de 
I'Ecole Polyteclinique," vol. ii., Prairialyear 6; " Voyage autour du Monde 
de VUranie et de La Physicienne, de 1817 a 1820," two vols., by L. de 
Freycinet; J. Forbes, in "Proceedings of Eoyal Society of Edinburgh," 
Jan. 16, 1837 ; Quetelet and Gould, op. cit. 

2 D 



402 EESPIRATION. [Chap. viii. 

from its study, and give the following averages for what they are 
worth : 

Pulse. 

8284 White soldiers (Gould) 74-8 

1503 Negroes „ 74-0 

708 Mulattoes „ 76-9 

503 Iroquois Indians „ ... ... ... 76*3 

1080 Englishmen (Hutchinson) 80*0 

30 Belgians of 30 years of age (Quetelet) ... 7l'0 

230 Mexicans (Coindet) 80-2 

24 Chinese (Novarra) ... ... ... ... 77*0 

34 Mkobarians „ ... 77*0 



The Respiration. 

The respiration presents considerahle diversities in different 
individuals; some of these are of a radical character, others are 
consecutive to the action of milieux. The movements of the chest 
concerned in inspiration are three in number — namely, an upper 
costal, a lower costal, and an abdominal or diaphragmatic. We 
have yet to know whether either of them may or may not be 
peculiar to certain races. The rhythm of the respiration may also 
vary, although it usually bears a definite relation to the pulse, there 
being one inspiration to four beats of the heart. Quetelet found 
that in the Belgians in the above list, the inspirations were 18 in 
the minute, and Hutchinson that in the English there were 20. 
According to Coindet the respiration increases the higher one 
ascends. Supposing, in 250 Europeans, the number of inspirations 
were 19*3, in the same number of Mexicans, at an altitude of 2277 
metres, the number would be 20*3 — the correctness of which state- 
ment M. Jourdanet questions. The difference, however, is scarcely 
appreciable, and the number of individuals too few to enable us to 
form a definite opinion on the matter. The capacity of the thoracic 
cavity is a subject which has received a considerable amount of 
attention. It is ascertained with the spirometer. The individual 
makes a full expiration and then a full inspiration, three times in 



Chap, viii.] CIECUMFERENCE OF THE CHEST. 403 

succession, wlien the mean is taken. Of all the physiological 
causes which tend to make it vary, like every other animal func- 
tion, the most important is the stature. In 1080 Englishmen 
Mr. Hutchinson found, with a stature of 1'52 metre, a capacity of 
2 "842 cubic metres, and with an addition of one inch in height, 
namely, 2*54 centimetres, an increase of 131 cubic centimetres, 
so that with a stature of 1'82 metre, the capacity is 4*260. 
M. Schreevogt finds it less in the German race — namely, 52 cubic 
centimetres for every centimetre of height. The following table, 
having reference to healthy adult men, shows that there are 
material differences between races : 





Cubic metres. 


8895 White soldiers (Gould) ... 


... 3-054 


1631 Negroes „ 


... 2-700 


671 Mulattoes „ 


... 2-629 


504 Indians „ 


... 3-022 


1080 Englishmen (Hutchinson) 


... 3-602 



Erom this it appears that the chest capacity is less in negroes 
than in whites, and especially in the English. ]^ow the stature of 
the former averages 1*70 metre, and that of the latter about 1'71 
in the corresponding statistics, so that negroes maintain their 
inferiority. With regard to mulattoes, it is with them as with 
their brain — (see page 312) — they seem to appropriate the worst 
character pertaining to the two races of which they are the issue. 
Their chest capacity is even less than in pure negroes. 



TJie Circumference of the Chest. 

The circumference of the chest is connected with the study of the 
Tespiratory functions, as well as with that of the proportions of the 
body ; it has even to do with that of the reproductive functions in 
the female : hence it presents differences according to race. We 
shall only speak, however, of the measurement in the adult man. 
The works which have been written on the subject are numerous. 



CIECUMFEEENCE OF THE CHEST. [Chap. viii. 



and have an equal interest for antliropology, medicine, military- 
enlistment, and the Arts. When measuring a man's chest the tape 
is passed round under the armpits, or, what is better, over the 
nipples. The individual should stand upright, should be calm, his 
respiration being carried on quietly, the mouth open, the arms 
above the head, and the hands joined, unless we want to take the 
mean circumference during inspiration and expiration. As the 
capacity of the chest increases with the stature it is necessary to 
take account of this. In the following table the first column shows 
the absolute circumference, and the second the same circumference 
relatively to the stature = 100 : 



5738 Scotchmen (Quetelet) ... 

508 Indians (Gould) 

1080 Englishmen (Hutchinson) 

462 Germans (Gould) 

4930 Eussians (Seeland) 

400 Frenchmen (Bernard) ... 
1792 Negroes (Gould) 

719 Mulattoes „ 

151 New Zealanders (A. S. Thompson) 
25 Todas of the Nilgherries (Shortt) 



50 Inferior tribes of the Nilgherries (Shortt) 76-6 



Absolute 


Relative 


circumference. 


to stature. 


... 100-0 


56-7 


... 96-5 


55-5 


... 93-9 


540 


... 91-2 


53-8 


... 88-7 


53-4 


... 87-9 


530 


... 89-0 


52-3 


... 88-7 


521 


... 89-8 


51-4 


... 81-8 


50-9 


)rtt) 76-6 


48-8 



All the European races in this list have the circumference of the 
thorax decidedly greater than the inferior races. What Mr. Gould 
calls the play of the chest, that is to say, the difference between 
the two circumferences taken during inspiration and expiration, is 
also much greater in them. The first column below shows this 
difference in centimetres of length, and the second the volume in 
cubic centimetres of the thoracic capacity to which it corresponds, 
according to Mr. Gould's calculation. 





Centimetres 


. Cubic centimetres* 


9271 American soldiers ... 


6-9 


44-5 


1792 Negroes 


41 


26-4 


719 Mulattoes 


40 


25-7 


508 Iroquois Indians 


4-6 


300 



€hap. yiii.] vision. 405 



Digestion. 

The digestion also varies, if not according to race, at least so far 
as to produce certain effects which may become permanent. It is 
influenced by certain habits. Thus, according to the regularity or 
irregularity of the meals, a redundance or insufficiency of food, a 
herbivorous or a carnivorous regimen, the stomach will become 
distended and deformed, as is the characteristic of many inferior 
tribes, or be retracted. The lumbo-sacral curvature also will be 
more or less hollowed. The teeth will become worn, horizontally, 
almost down to the gums, as in the Patagonians, or obliquely, as in 
our prehistoric races. In truth, in anthropology we must study all 
the functions of the body exactly as we study the corresponding 
organs; and these functions may exhibit differential characters 
between races which we least expected, or throw some light on the 
problem now under consideration with reference to the influence of 
external conditions and habit, ^ext to respiration and digestion, 
therefore, come the functions of the larynx, of the senses, &c. 



The Voice. 

The voice varies in its quality and tone in different races, and 
may even be characteristic of certain human groups, according to 
the statement of travellers. The tenor or bass voice is frequently 
associated with a certain physical type. This subject belongs more 
particularly to linguists, whose attention is specially directed to 
differences of pronunciation. Much has yet to be done in this 
direction. 

Vision. 

Vision may be studied with respect to its extent. According to 
Mr. Gould, the white, the negro, and the Indian see at the 



406 CEEEBRAL FUNCTIONS. [Chap, viii, 

greatest distance at from 17 to 28 years of age, after which the 
distance progressively diminishes. The following interesting sta- 
tistical table has been drawn np by this author. The first column 
gives the distance of clear vision of type corresponding to 'No. 11 
of Jaeger. The three following columns indicate the proportion 
per cent, of short-sighted persons, of those of intermediate vision,, 
and of the long-sighted, the first seeing the type at less than 50 
centimetres, the second at from 50 centimetres to 1*50 metre, the 
third above 1*50 metre. 







Proportion per cent 


of 


Mean distance. 
White soldiers 1-59 
„ sailors 0-92 
Negroes ... 1-15 
Mulattoes ... I'lS 
Indians ... 1'31 


Short-sighted. 

2-7 
9-3 
20 
2-4 
0-9 


Intermediate. 
80-9 

87-7 
84-8 
81-0 
88-5 


Long-sighted 
15-4 
4-0 
13-2 
16-6 
10-6 



It is singular that as regards the greater number of physiological 
characters, for example weight, muscular force, vision, chest capacity, 
and even stature, sailors are inferior to soldiers in Mr. Gould's 
statistics, these being confirmed in many particulars by other 
observers. 

Cerebral Functions. 



The cerebral functions are to be examined in the same way as all 
the others. Intellectual phenomena are the expression of the 
activity of the brain, while their external manifestations are its 
product. Both the one and the other are consequently included in 
the category of physiological characters which we are now studying. 
They present the greatest anomalies, because this is precisely the 
general characteristic of the human family, but they also exhibit 
marked differences, which doubtless were more considerable at first 
when races were in a condition of isolation. There are two cha- 
racters common to the whole human race : the faculty of imitation 



Chap. VIII.] CEEEBEAL FUNCTIONS. 407 

and the faculty of improvement. The ape repeats that which he 
sees done, and goes no farther. Man profits by what he sees, and 
is more or less capable of being educated. Hence the difficulty, 
when analysing intellectual traits, to distinguish that which apper- 
tains to the race and to the individual from that which is the result 
of education and of training. Not only a victorious tribe, but a 
single individual starting up as if by chance, may so transform the 
customs and modify the characters of a people as, after a brief 
period, to render them unrecognisable. The ancient Peruvians owe 
most of the intellectual traits which distinguish them from neigh- 
bouring races to Manco-Capac, the first of the Incas. AVho knows 
whether the Australians might not have become elevated in the 
social scale, if they had met with a man who knew how to deal 
with them 1 This proneness of Man to appropriate to himself that 
which he can make subservient to his wants and desires, and to 
transform himself intellectually, is not equally developed in all. 
In some it is acquired rapidly, in others slowly. We know that 
the Andamans and Australians, brought up according to our ideas of 
civilisation, cast off their clothing on the first opportimity, and 
resume their savage mode of life ; notwithstanding this, these same 
savages quickly learn to read and write, and are very observant. 
Hence we must distinguish between the rough-and-ready education 
of an individual, and the lengthened and progressive education of a 
race. In spite of this tendency to intellectual uniformity in the 
human family, certain differences persist, each corresponding to 
certain peculiar anatomical conditions of the brain, which they 
denote as surely as though demonstrated by the most delicate 
microscopic examination. 

Among those properties inherent in the structure of the brain, 
the faculty of language occupies a prominent place. Linguists 
have come to the clearest conclusions on this point. A certain 
number of languages irreducible from one another have had an 
independent origin. At that remote period the corresponding 
primitive races lived distinct in a state of nature. Has chance 
then presided at the early development of a few articular sounds, 
which have become the point of departure of so many root-words ? 



408 SOCIAL CONDITION OF VAEIOUS RACES. [Chap. viii. 

or lias the brain become previously modified in order to render this 
development possible 1 What interests us here is that there are 
languages profoundly different from one another, which require 
organs of a special construction to pronounce them, and special 
poAvers of intellect to comprehend them. In the same way we 
must view the various methods of appreciating the musical gamut 
in the several quarters of the globe. That which is harmony to 
the auditory fibres of the brain in some races, is not so in others. 
Education here has nothing to do with it ; the thing has been so 
from the first, and is, therefore, an anatomical fact. The varieties 
of arithmetical systems are in the same category. The races termed 
Aryan are acquainted with all of them, and have considerable 
aptitude for mathematics. Other races, styled inferior, cannot 
count above two, or three, or five ; any numbers above these are 
altogether incomprehensible to them, and in spite of all our efforts 
we can seldom give them any higher notion of number : this was 
the case with a Damara mentioned by Lubbock. As regards draw- 
ing, there are differences in the same way. There is a race, the 
existence of which can be undoubtedly traced back to the earliest 
period, only capable of making circles and straight lines, and certain 
of its representatives cannot even distinguish the difference between 
a drawing of a head and a tree or a ship. The Chinese, after a 
social existence probably equal to that of the ancient Egyptians, 
and, although advanced in many other respects, have not the 
slightest idea of perspective. 

Other races, on the contrary, and these the most ancient and the 
most savage, as our ancestors of the Eeindeer Period, have exhibited 
almost from the first, a thoroughly artistic taste. The marvellous 
difference in the systems of writing testifies also to the primitive 
isolation of races and to their various degrees of aptness and impulse. 
The perfection which some seem to have attained almost from the 
first, whilst others have remained in statu quo, is well worthy our 
consideration. Races are still more distinguished from one another 
by their mode of life and social condition. From the earliest dawn 
of tradition, and even previously, when all our information is 
derivable only from prehistoric archaeology, we see tribes settling 



€hap. VIII.] CHARACTER OF THE FRENCH. 409 

down peaceably, engaged in fishing and barter, as well as those of a 
warlike and turbulent spirit. The former soon become amenable 
to the softening influence of civilisation, the latter, on the contrary, 
are proof against it, and prefer a rough and savage life. The former 
are sceptics, or indifferent to religious forms ; the latter recognise a 
protecting Providence, and have a settled faith. Some are naturally 
inclined to a sedentary life, while others seem to be always on the 
move, like the Tschinghani, the Jew, and the Arab. The Tschinghani 
have no religion, and wander about in the midst of civilised peoples 
without allowing themselves to be influenced by them in any way. 
The Jew, now a wanderer, and then a sojourner, from the time of 
Joshua to that of Titus, has again become a wanderer, as far as the 
customs of the peoples among whom he dwells will permit. The Arab 
also retains his old habits, only he does not adapt himself to them. 
He moves away to India, into Central Africa, in search of fresh 
moorings, but does not remain long anywhere, like the Anglo- 
Germanic race. 

JS'o one doubts the value of intellectual characters. It would be 
commonplace to say that they continue for ages in the same way 
as physical characters. The Spaniards of the time of Scipio 
^milianus are still those of to-day. Fighting in ambush, long 
patient endurance, and hatred of the foreigner are always their 
distinguishing marks. The predominating character of the French 
race is still that of the Gauls described by Caesar. In Algiers, the 
Berbers are distinguished from the Arabs more by their disposition, 
their temper, and their sociability than by their features of coun- 
tenance. The contrast between the Anglo-Germanic and the dark 
southern race is also very striking. The impulses inherent in the 
cerebral matter are so tenacious, in spite of education and civili- 
sation, that they still continue after crossing and mixture of races, 
and are of assistance to us in recognising them. Mr. Brace depicts 
the character of the French in these terms.* " In character and 
genius the French show the evidences of the three powerful races 
which have constituted the nation — traits which sometimes seem 

* "The Races of the Old World: a Manual of Ethnology." By C. L. 
Brace. London, 1863. 



410 PEIMITIVE CEEEBEAL DIFFEEENCES. [Chap. viii. 

contradictory, and whicli only tliose familiar with the French, 
people can fully understand. In their hrilliant martial character, 
their love of display and effect, their sudden enthusiasm and as easy 
discouragement, their readiness to be governed by military leaders, 
their fondness for ornament and art, and their gaiety, fickleness, 
and amorousness, they are thorough Kelts ; but in the sober devout- 
ness of a large mass of the people, in their seriousness, in their 
personal sensitiveness and personal independence, in their spirit of 
sceptical inquiry and the thoroughness of their scientific research, they 
are Teutons ; while their marvellous talent for organisation, and 
their tendency to centralisation, are Eoman. The French race, 
with its genius, its science, its grandeur, its faults — which are the 
scorn of mankind; its misfortunes — which afflict the world; its 
magnificent past, its uncertain present [the author wrote under the 
Empire], and mysterious future, is a unity, a new and living force 
entering into the life of mankind, and henceforth as distinct as any 
of the great races of antiquity." 

The points of view from which one might treat the vast subject 
of primitive cerebral differences are infinite. Each fundamental 
race would require to be submitted to minute analysis, and every- 
thing eliminated from it which is due to a natural state of perfect- 
ness, to accidental occurrences, to the influence of other races, and to 
historical circumstances. The power of each faculty, feeling, or 
instinct would have to be taken into account. Superstitious 
tendency, religion, family history, individual peculiarity, degree of 
sociableness, aptness for civilisation, preference for this or that kind 
of life. All these would have to be examined. What the varied 
amount of cerebral activity in the so-called higher races, as com- 
pared with the torpid condition of those regarded as inferior, &c. 
It seems, says Sproat, speaking of the Atnas of North America 
(Jjuhhock), that the intellect of the savage is in a half -sleepy state. 
If we hold conversation with him for however brief a period, he 
becomes fatigued, especially when his replies require some effort of 
thought and memory. The savages of the interior of Borneo [Dallon), 
as well as some from Western Australia (Scott Nind)\\YQ in a state 
of the most absolute indifference, like animals. Their sole business 



Chap. VIII.] INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT. 411 

is to eat and drink. There are numerous examples of savages, as 
the Bosjesman described by Lichtenstein, in whom there is nothing 
either in features of countenance or in their actions indicative of the 
least glimmer of intellect. 

A subject, almost a new one, has for some years excited much 
attention : namely, the history, based on facts, of the steps whereby 
the most favoured of the human races have arrived at their degree 
of intellectual development. In our opinion it is one intimately 
connected with ethnology or general ethnography. Mr. Tylor has 
written a work under the title " Primitive Culture ; or, The early 
History of the Human Eace," and Sir J. Lubbock one on the " Origin 
of Civilisation." The former clearly shows, just to take one example, 
that morality is synonymous with general conduct, that it is always 
utilitarian, that it varies in different peoples, conformably to their 
wants, that originally restricted within the narrow limits of the 
family, then of the tribe, it has extended to greater confederacies ; 
that, in a word, it is progressive. Suffice it to say that ideas of 
morality may give ethnic characters but not differential physiolo- 
gical characters between races, at least until a new order of such 
should arise. The knowledge of religious beliefs advances in the 
same way. By the comparison of the fables and allegories upon 
which all systems of mythology are based, it traces back its inquiries, 
as is done with regard to language, to the remote period when 
peoples came in contact with one another, and consequently 
separates the acquired character from that which is inherent. It 
has a still wider range : it takes a retrospective view of the various- 
phases of those intellectual qualities of which races have mutually 
become the possessors, as well as of that which they have acquired 
by the simple and natural development of the faculties inherent in 
Man generally. The problem of the differential characters of 
human races dependent on their special cerebral organisation, will 
be in this way simplified, and then no doubt we shall be able really 
to say that the modes of activity of the brain furnish distinctive 
characters, in the same way as the shape of the skull or the 
character of the hair. The only objection would be that their 
varieties could not be measured with the compass. 



412 PATHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS. [Chap. viii. 

The " Bibliotlieque des Sciences Contemporaines" lias in the press 
a vohime by M. Girard de Eialle, which treats on Comparative 
Mythology. We doubt not that the subject of the successive and 
mutual phases of perfection through which the human races have 
passed, both intellectually and socially, will be fully considered 
in this volume. 

Patlwlogical Characters. 

Pathological characters are a deviation from the physiological, 
and, like them, have to do with the living subject. All morbid 
peculiarities which certain races, to the exclusion of certain other 
races, present, may be classed under this head. It is not our 
present intention to treat of this subject, which has rather to do 
with medicine. We should have to consider, at the outset, the 
progress and the development of diseases, depending, on the one 
hand, on telluric and atmospheric conditions, and, on the other, on 
race. With respect to the former, we enunciated, some sixteen years 
"ago, a fact which was more or less confirmed by others, namely, 
that the mortality after capital operations in the English hospitals 
was less by one-half than in the French. We attributed it to a 
better diet, to their better sanitary arrangements, and to their 
superior management. There was but one serious objection offered 
to our statement. M. Velpeau, with his wonderful acumen, made 
reply, at the Academy of Medicine, that the flesh of the English 
and of the French differed ; in other words, that the reaction after 
operations was not the same in both races. It is, in effect, an 
anthropological character. The immunity of negroes and their 
cross-breeds from yellow fever ; the few cases of hepatitis in 
Senegal as compared with those among Europeans ; their greater 
predisposition, on the contrary, to plague, are other examples of the 
same kind. According to M. Obedenare, the inhabitants of Eome 
are almost proof against malarial fever, while Germans residing 
there are very sensitive to its influence. These pathological cha- 
racters form an entirely new subject, to which we beg to direct the 
attention of our naval surgeons. In treatises on pathology we find 



Chap, viii.] CAUSES OF THE EXTINCTION OF EACES. 413 

mucli as to the influence of age, sex, and temperament on disease, 
as well as concise descriptions of affections peculiar to certain 
countries, but almost nothing as to the influence of race properly 
so called. This is a gap which must be filled up.* 

Apropos of the skin of the negro, discussion has arisen with 
regard to the colour of cicatrices after wounds. The question has 
now been settled. After deep wounds the cicatrices are whitish, 
and when superficial they are blacker than the adjoining skin. 

The causes of the extinction of races may be considered here. 
Whether rapid, slow, or scarcely perceptible, this progressive ex- 
tinction in the presence of new races, relatively superior, and 
difi"ering in morals and civilisation, is an acknowledged fact. 
That it should be so in tribes as truly savage as the Obongos of 
Du Chaillu, and the Australians of Port King George, described by 
Scott Mnd, is not surprising ; but that the phenomena should be 
repeated among the Polynesians, who are far from being an inferior 
race, in the JSTorth American Indians, and in the Arabs of Algeria, 
is very remarkable. The same influences, however, are at work in 
each case; some morbid, others physiological, all capable of being 
summed up in one word. Among morbid causes are included 
diseases new to the country, and more or less contagious, which 
Europeans bring with them in the same way as they did tlie dog- 

* A volume might be written respecting the comparative pathological 
characters of the two races, the negro and the white, as seen in the United 
States. Official documents might be furnished for the statistical part of 
the work. Thus, as regards the relative frequency of mania and idiotcy, 
tables like the following are full of interest : 

Proportion per 1000. 





Mania. 


Idiotcy. 


[9,555,000 Whites 


0-76 


0-73 


434,000 Freed negroes 


0-71 


0-81 


3,204,000 Negro slaves ... 


0-10 


0-37 



It proves that social influence predominates over the influence of race : a 
brain having nothing to think about is less exposed to insanity than one 
having to battle with the necessities of the social condition. This is quite 
natural : an organ which has much work to do is more likely to become 
deranged than one which does not work at all. 



414 CAUSES OF THE EXTINCTION OF RACES. [Chap. viii. 

grass to La Plata, and as the Americans recently gave France the 
phylloxera. For example, the small-pox, imported into St. Domingo 
in 1518, into Iceland in 1707, into Greenland in 1732, into 
the Cape of Good Hope in 1748 (Boudin), and which, when it first 
made its appearance in Australia, in 1788, almost annihilated the 
curious tribe of Port Jackson, now called Sydney; the measles, 
which has just destroyed half the population of the Fiji Islands ; 
scarlatina, syphilis, the severity of w^hich, however, has heen 
exaggerated; alcoholism, in all its forms, which is propagated by 
imitation, and easily assumes an epidemic character. Among 
physiological causes are a sudden change of habits, the impossibility 
for the native, under these circumstances, to supply his necessities 
as heretofore, and nostalgia combined with anaemia, which are the 
results of this change. Before the arrival of Europeans, the 
Australians were in possession of immense territories, where game 
was, as it were, preserved, and where food was always at hand. 
The kangaroo occupied the same place as the reindeer did formerly 
among our own ancient populations of the Perigord, or as the horse 
among those of Solutre. They had, moreover, vast natiu'al pastures 
and cultivated grounds, the harvest from which they gathered 
regularly every year. They were agriculturists and sheep farmers, 
without having the cares and anxieties of those occupations. All 
at once they were driven from their hunting-fields and pasturages, 
the kangaroos were put to flight before the musket, and before a 
generation had passed they were compelled altogether to change 
their habits and mode of life {Bejwrt of the Adelaide, South 
Australia, Commission). Their life was an easy one when they 
had a vast extent of country at their command ; but when it became 
circumscribed in extent, and they had to contend with all the 
obstacles of civilisation, it became insupportable. With insufficient 
food, they in their naked state were unable to withstand the cold, 
in addition to which, dejection and sadness at finding themselves 
under subjugation in a country of which they had been the sole 
proprietors, opened the door for the ingress of every kind of disease, 
as well as for every sort of vice. Under these circumstances they 
were generally carried off by phthisis. 



Ohap. VIII.] CAUSES OF THE EXTINCTION OF RACES. 415 

Now, in Australia, as in so many other places, tlie population 
was sparse in proportion to the extent of the country. The 
scarcity of women, the regular practice of infanticide, and the 
frequency of accidents which are inseparable from savage life, 
together with circumstances Ave have already mentioned, helped 
to keep it down. 

Moreover, there are two influences at work in producing disease : 
^n external, morbid or accidental, and an internal, caused by a 
want of power of resistance in the system. It is this latter which 
plays the principal part among savages. There is therefore nothing 
mysterious in this extinction of race. An old Namaqua woman, 
to all appearance a centenarian, when asked by Barrow if she 
remembered the period prior to that when the Dutch took posses- 
sion of the country, replied : "I have good reason to remember it, 
for at that time we did not know what it was to have an empty 
belly, now we can hardly get a mouthful." Under a less cruel 
form the cause of the progressive diminution of a race is always 
the same. That portion of the race which secures the better part 
of the resources of the country has the advantage over the other 
which does not follow the movement. The Arabs are long lived 
in Arabia, because they are in undisputed possession of the country ; 
they decrease in Algeria, because they meet with opposition, and 
therefore cannot enjoy their pastoral life uninterruptedly. They 
instinctively retrograde in the Desert of Sahara, like the Americans 
in the Eocky Mountains. The Berbers, on the contrary, Avitli 
whom our civilised mode of life thoroughly agrees, thrive well 
there. In fine, it is the law of adaptation to external conditions, 
whatever they may be, whether physical or moral, and the 
mechanism of progress. 

The regular and progressive increase of the populations, such as 
we see now going on in Europe, is not noticed in the savage state, 
as among the negroes of Africa, nor in the barbarous state, as it 
was in Europe before our present era. In both these cases, the 
number of premature deaths by murder and accident, as well as 
by preventable disease, has considerably increased, and the balance 
as between births and deaths remains in reality stationary, barring 



416 CAUSES OF THE EXTINCTION OF KACES. [Chap. Tin. 

certain oscillations annually, eitlicr upwards or downwards. In 
Africa at the present time, where the influence of the European 
has not yet been felt, there are negro tribes which are becoming 
extinct without any apparent reason, without any change in their 
external condition, and almost without having become reduced in 
number by war. It is not surprising therefore, another unfavour- 
able condition being added, such as the necessity of suddenly 
changing their habits of eating, sleeping, walking, method of 
clothing, &c., that the equilibrium should be destroyed, and that 
death should get the upper hand. At the present rate of increase 
of European population and of emigration, the earth will soon be 
overcrowded, to their advantage. 

There are, however, causes which tend to the rapid destruction 
of races. The Tasmanians have been exterminated to the last man, 
and their half-breeds alone remain. The English die out in India, 
and the Dutch in Malacca, because they are unable to acclimate 
in those countries. The Esquimaux in the northern part of America 
are becoming extinct because their country is gradually becoming 
colder, and existence in it is becoming impossible. Captain HaU 
says the Esquimaux die more from phthisis than from all other' 
diseases put together. Among the most celebrated races which 
have become recently extinct from natural causes, we may mention 
the Charruas, the Caribs (I), the blacks of California, and among 
the first to disappear, the natives of Easter Island, the Kamskatdales,, 
the Esquimaux^ and the Makololos, &c. 



Chap, ix.j ETHNIC CHAEACTERS. . 417 



CHAPTER IX. 

ETHNIC, LINGUISTIC, HISTORICAL, ARCHiEOLOGICAL CHARACTERS: 

THEIR VALUE — PREHISTORIC RACES OUR ANCESTORS OF THE 

ROUGH AND POLISHED STONE PERIOD. 

The two series of anatomical and physiological characters which 
we have been describing are really the only ones belonging to the 
province of Natural History, the only ones npon which one can 
directly rely in order to determine the number as well as the 
nature of the principal divisions of the human family. Those of 
which it remains for us to speak, to which we shall continue to 
give the name of characters, are of an entirely different order. 
They are indications derived from various sources, and may be 
compared with those which one would seek from a breeder in 
order to establish the genealogy of a breed of dogs or cattle. But 
as regards Man, the sources are more varied and of a nobler 
character. His customs, his language, his migrations, the relics of 
his remote industry — all these are to be considered before we can 
solve the problem of the relationship of each of his races. 

In a certain point of view, the characters included under the 
terms " ethnic " and *' linguistic " should have found a place in the 
previous chapter, under the title of simple intellectual manifesta- 
tions of the physical organisation of the individual regarded as a 
type of the race. But if mode of living, laws, and language are 
inherent in the race, they depend much more on such an union as 
the chance of events establishes. Eace and people are, in fact, 
two terms having no relation to each other ; the former is an 
anthropological group, the latter a social group. Hitherto we have 
only considered races; now we shall speak of peoples, and shall 
begin with ethnic characters par excellence. 

Ethnic Characters. 

By ethnic characters are understood all those things which result 
from the association of men with each other, whatever their cause, 

2 E 



418 ETHNIC CHARACTERS. [Chap. ix. 

such as want of society, interest, caprice, or warlike passion. 
]N"ational unity, as we see it realised in the highest degree in 
France, and the federation of autonomous provinces, as in the 
United States, are the highest forms of this enlightened association. 
The small tribes of Todas, in which all the members are united by 
ties of kindred, and where association is synonymous mth family, 
are an example of the lowest degree of an opposite character. 
In each case a greater or less share of liberty is left to the in- 
dividual, and authority is confided to a chief or to an assembly of 
delegates. 

The democratic organisation of the Kabyls of Algeria, the 
authoritative institutions of the nomad Arab, the system of the 
Australians, who settle their disputes in assemblies periodically 
called together, termed corrohories, are other examples of this. 
Very rarely is there any trace of organisation of any kind, as 
among the Australians of Port King George, described by Scott 
Mnd, and the Obongos of Du Chaillu. The object of association 
is defence against the common enemy, and mutual support in the 
battle of life. Its result is the establishment of customs, regu- 
lations, and subsequently of laws, written, or transmitted verbally 
from generation to generation. The idea of an equal participation 
in the expenses and pleasures of life comes at a later period, 
tardily followed by a notion of morality, as the term is understood 
by Europeans, namely, the protection of the weak and the infirm, 
and the equal right of all to the "banquet of life." It, how- 
ever, continues everywhere among pariahs, the oppressed, the 
down-trodden, and perhaps among civilised nations — but with 
them more as a matter of habit. The principal object of democracy, 
the highest conception of morality, is to dispel these inequalities. 
As a sequel to laws and customs, and with a view to public utility, 
there become developed — we know not how — a number of customs, 
either of a rational or a ridiculous character, corresponding to some 
innate weakness of the human machine. Such are the rites 
associated with the great epochs of life, with birth, puberty, 
marriage, parturition, and death j the custom of tattooing, of 
mutilating the teeth, the nose, the ears, the feet, the body. 



Chap. IX.] ETHNIC CHAEACTEES. 419 

the head, &c. ; the ceremonies pertaining to religion, to memorials, 
whether of glory or calamity, &c. It is to the social state again 
that all our inquiries are directed respecting implements, arms, 
methods of navigation, the character of dwellings, and the kind 
of food selected by different peoples. It is here also, as well 
as in reference to intellectual capability, that we place the 
description of the pursuits of fishing, hunting, agriculture, trade, 
and commerce; and lastly the literary, artistic, and musical pro- 
ductions characterising each nation. If races are naturally predis- 
posed to a particular mode of life, peoples do not often adopt it 
unless to follow the example of, and owing to their contact with, 
other peoples. 

Such are the materials which ethnography has to employ. 
Ethnography, then, is the description of each people, as now 
existing, or in the successive phases of its development, of its laws 
and customs, its language, its origin, and its relationships. Ethno- 
logy treats of the same subject, but from a higher point of view, 
by attaching itself to ordinary traits of character, and seeking to 
determine the laws which preside over the relations and changes of 
peoples, and the development of their customs and institutions. 
Eoth the one and the other powerfully contribute to the progress 
of Anthropology, but should, strictly speaking, be separated from it. 
(See page 7, et seq.). 

Among these ethnological, or, for greater brevity, ethnic cha- 
racters, some have but little importance when taken together, while 
others possess an individual value, and are useful as affording us 
a knowledge of past, and consequently of present, ties of kindred, 
and a power of determining the anthropological elements which 
enter into the composition of each people. 

Cannibalism, for example, has existed almost universally among 
races living in a savage state, sometimes as a means of subsistence, 
as among the Monbouttons and some other African tribes — among 
whom shambles for human flesh are openly kept ; sometimes with 
the idea of appropriating to themselves the qualities of the 
deceased. It is practised after a battle as a religious ceremony, 
or spontaneously in time of peace. Cannibalism therefore, by 



420 ETHNIC CHAEACTEES. [Chap. ix. 

itself, does not furnish us with any means of discovering the 
pacific arrangements "which have taken place at a certain moment 
hetween two peoples ; but from the circumstances which have 
occurred, and from subsequent proceedings, it may go some way 
towards it. 

So the custom of erecting rough stone monuments as records of 
important events, or for the purpose of receiving the remains of 
those to whom honour has been paid when living. Stones set 
upright, or placed one upon another, or forming chambers, have 
been met with in almost every country. They are still constructed 
in India. The present race of Kabyls of the Djurjura sometimes 
set up stones in a circle on the spot on which they hold their 
great federative assemblies. The marble slabs which we place in 
our cemeteries are a relic of this natural disposition in Man to 
appropriate that material which appears to him to be the most 
durable for the purpose of making of it a commemorative memo- 
rial. According to the peculiar form of these constructions, so 
are they classed under different groups. It is quite clear that the 
dolmens and cromlechs of Denmark, Trance, England, Portugal, 
and Algeria have been the conception of one and the same period 
of civilisation, while those of the Deccan, the Assam, and the 
provinces to the south of the Brahmapootra have been that of 
another. 

In all countries of the world Man made use of flint loeapons 
for purposes of warfare, before he became acquainted with 
metals. In Patagonia, in the Sahara, in Oceania, as well as in 
Europe, they are found in great numbers, either on the surface 
or embedded in the earth. Erequently even their shapes are alike 
in countries which, as far as we know, have not been in com- 
munication with each other from the remotest periods. Moreover, 
from the particulai? way in which these flints are worked we are 
able to form a judgment as to the relations which have existed 
between tribes far removed from one another. Even the sub- 
stance of the flint itself furnishes useful sources of information. 
The use of the bow and arrow, the lance, the shield, as observed 
in various parts of the globe, is simply a question of ordinary 



Chap, ix.] ETHNIC CHARACTERS. 421 

interest. So witli the boomerang, which has been met with almost 
identical in shape both in Australia, in the Deccan, in Egypt, and 
in America. It is in use throughout the entire extent of the first- 
mentioned country ; but it is not found either in jN'ew Guinea or in 
Polynesia; while the bow and arrow, so common in these latter 
countries, have disappeared in Australia, proving that the natives 
have not been in contiguity sufficiently long for the industry of 
either one to have become influenced by that of the other. In the 
Deccan, the bow and arrow are in use at the present moment, 
whence we come to the conclusion that the Australians must have 
brought it from that country, at least, that the reverse is not the 
ease. Various considerations make us lean to the former hypothesis. 
It must be thoroughly understood that these circumstances in no 
way establish a relationship between two races. They simply 
indicate that two peoples, having the same custom or the same 
industry, have probably been previously in contact. Consequently 
they may be derived the one from the other, have descended from 
one and the same stock, or have crossed. 

The Todas of the Nilgherries live an altogether exceptional life : 
they have a special worship ; they subsist on milk and pulse ; and 
transform their dairies into temples. It is the duty of the priest to 
perform the operation of milking the buffaloes, and to look after 
the apportionment of the milk ; and the little bell hung round the 
neck of the principal cow is a sacred symbol. As far as we know 
no similar kind of worship has been found anywhere ; but it is 
evident that it might be discovered among some other solitary 
people of India or of distant parts of Asia. It would then become 
probable that they had lived together, and possible that they 
might be of one and the same race. 

The artificial deformation of the head shows also how much may 
be gathered from ethnic customs. From the Caucasus to France 
we come on the track of peoples who practised it after one particular 
fashion. On the other hand, in America, previous to our era, we 
see a people who also practised deformation of the head of so 
special a character, that we are able to trace all the spots at which 
it sojourned in its journeyings through both ^orth and South 



422 ETHNIC CHAHACTEES. [Chap. ix. 

America. We frequently discoyer a deformation prodnced in 
another way alongside of, and even among, this same people. What 
relation is there between the two races, both having one and the 
same custom, but that custom modified in two altogether different 
ways 1 By supposing them to be the issue of one and the same 
stock at a very remote period, would there be any relation between 
this stock and the European part of the Caucasus 1 The question 
cannot be solved ; but further researches may clear up the 
matter. Already in Asia we see other deformations showing them- 
selves, as if to establish another link between Europe and the 
Americas. 

The practice of scal^rmg is one very extensively carried on in 
North America, where each tribe of Indians has its special method. 
Duncan also found it employed in Africa in 1845. The ancient 
Scythians {Burton), the ancient Germans, the Anglo-Saxons, and 
even the French in 879, according to the Abbe Domenech, had 
recourse to it. 

The institution of caste, regularly established in India, and 
found in Australia in a rudimentary state, as well as in some parts 
of the Malay peninsula ; the custom of tatooing with the needle 
in some countries, and by scarifying in others, as well as the 
different marks adopted by each tribe; the tahoo, so national 
among the Polynesians that it makes one suspicious whence this 
custom originated ; the universal practice of chewing the betel-nut 
in the Malay archipelago — are so many ethnic characters for our 
consideration. There are a number of most singular practices con- 
nected with the period of puberty, or adopted in infancy, and 
. which are designated by the general term ethnic mutilations. 

But of all customs, the most varied have reference to the 
method of dis2Josing of the dead. Besides the dolmens, there 
are the tumuli of ancient Siberia, of North America, and of the 
Gauls of the Bronze Age ; the canoe of the Patagonians ; the 
practice of embalming of the Peruvians, the Guanchas, and the 
Egyptians. Sometimes the corpse is burnt, or simply smoked, or 
eaten by the relatives. Sometimes it is allowed to putrefy on the 
branch of a tree, or left to vultures on a lofty wicker structure or 



Chap. IX.] LINGUISTIC CHAEACTERS. 423 

on an exposed tower, as among the Parsees, &c. Sometimes we 
see the bones prepared, and hung round the necks of relatives, 
as among the Andamans ; or the head only, with the face pre- 
served with its usual expression {chanchas), as among the Jivaros 
Indians. 

But it is not our purpose to describe the general subject of 
ethnic characters. This sketch, therefore, must suffice, inasmuch as 
a treatise on ethnology about to be published in the " Bibliotheque 
des Sciences Contemporaines " will, no doubt, treat of them in 
detail. 

Linguistic characters are one of the most valuable sources of 
information connected with Anthropology. 

Linguistics is the comparative study of the elements of each 
language, as philology is the comparative study of the literary 
productions of a language. The two fundamental points upon 
which the former bears are the vocabulary and the grammar — their 
present state, their derivation, their origin. Every language has 
passed through three conditions, has had three phases, before its 
arrival at completeness. 

Some languages have passed through these rapidly ; others, after 
continuing for a lengthened period, have stopped at the first or 
second stage of their development. Hence we have three types of 
language — monosyllabic, polysyllabic or agglutinative, and inflective 
languages. The first are represented by the Chinese and its 
dialects; the second by the idioms of the American, Basque, 
Berber, Mongolian, Finnish, &c. ; the third by the Semitic and 
Aryan languages. Our European languages belong, with about 
two exceptions, to this last class. 

By an analysis of vocabularies and especially of root-words, by a 
comparison of grammatical forms and constructions, one of the first 
results of linguistics has been to divide .the eight hundred known 
languages, whether dead or living, into families ; these again being 
subdivided into genera and species according to their degree of 
resemblance and affinity. Some of these families include but one 
known genus, as the Basque ; in others there are a great number of 
genera, as in the TJralo-Altaic or Turanian, which is divided into the 



424 LINGUISTIC CHARACTERS. [Chap. ix. 

Samoyed, the Fin, tlie Turk, the Mongol, and the Tnngus languages, 
and each of these into different dialects. Some are so perfectly 
distinct in their mechanism and in their constituent elements — as 
the Indo-European or Aryan, and the Syro-Arabic or Semitic, in 
spite of all the attempts of specialists to find in them points of 
contact — that they give one the idea that at the time of their 
formation the races which spoke them lived absolutely separated, 
without having any communication with other races. M. Eenan 
states the fact, and goes no farther. M. Chavee is more definite. 
He says : " We might put Semitic children and Indo-European 
children apart, who had been taught by deaf-mutes, and we should 
find that the former would naturally speak a Semitic language, the 
latter an Aryan language." Whence the conclusion that the type of 
language is independent of the will of Man, and the inevitable 
product of his cerebral organisation. 

The argument is considerably in favour of the polygenistic 
doctrine. At the moment when Man acquired the dignity of Man 
by the acquisition of language, he was dispersed in groups or 
distinct races on the surface of the globe. JS'ow the number of 
these irreducible languages is enormous, without speaking of those 
which have become altogether extinct. The question as^ to the 
precursor of these races remains untouched, and does not belong to 
linguistics. Another result of the distribution of languages by 
families, is its application to the classification of races. We must 
not lay too much stress on this. 

Languages, like systems of mythology, methods of numeration, 
and all ethnic customs, often continue in the centre whence they 
have taken their origin, and have greater chances of being per- 
petuated in such centre, though they frequently change it. They 
are transmitted from one race to another, or from one people to 
another, in whole or in part, especially when the language of the 
invader is a more perfect one, and corresponds better with his new 
habits. Words having relation with ideas recently acquired are 
the first to pass away, the old ones become modified, then changes 
in the grammar take place. 

Some groups of the vanquished people resist more. Protected 



Chap, ix.] LINGUISTIC CHARACTERS. 425 

by their customs, their spirit of independence, or by their settling 
down in obscure places, they retain their idiom for a long period ; 
but foreign influence continuing, whether friendly, hostile, or 
enlightened, their language in time yields and becomes absorbed. 
There is in fact a struggle. The Franks of Neustria, less civilised 
than the Gallo-Eomans, were not able to force their language upon 
them ; on the contrary, they lost their own. The soldiers of Eollo, 
less than a hundred years after the cession of ]N"ormandy, spoke 
nothing but French. Their descendants were unable to commu- 
nicate the French language to England at the time of the invasion 
of William the Conqueror. The Saxons, on the contrary, five or 
six centuries previously, not only had taken possession of England, 
but had forced their language on its semi-barbarous inhabitants, 
upon whom the Romans had only made a passing impression. 
In these cases, number was everything. With us, on the contrary, 
as regards the influence of the Romans, it was their civilisation 
which decided the point. The Celtic language has been progres- 
sively latinised throughout. We do not now find traces of it 
except among the peasants living out of the usual path of civil- 
isation. The Celtic language itself was not autochthonous in 
Gaul, it had been brought from the East by a diff'erent race. That 
which had preceded it was the Euskarian language, vestiges of 
which are found in the geographical names dispersed through 
Spain in ancient Aquitania, and as far as into Corsica, Sardinia, 
and Sicily, according to Humboldt; this is the present Easque 
language. M. Broca is disposed to think that its area extended 
at a remote period over the whole of Western Europe up to the 
point towards the east where it meets with the Fin languages. 
The languages now used by the peoples scattered over the globe 
are not therefore necessarily those which they spoke originall}^ 
The community of language between two peoples, or even between 
two races, determined by their physical traits, does not show that 
there was any kindred or connection between them, but simply 
that they had participated in the same lot. The Yakuts of the 
banks of the Lena in features pass for Mongols, and speak a Turk 
language. The Yoguls and the Hungarians both speak a Fin 



426 ETHNIC CHAEACTEES. [Chap. ix. 

language ; the former, as to physique, are Mongols, and the latter 
Europeans, among the upper classes. The Belgians speak Latin, 
and have remained Kymris. Linguists include under the name 
of Kaffirs all the peoples speaking the Bantou languages, as the 
Amazulus of Kaffraria, the Makololos of the Zambesi, the Mpon- 
gwes of the Gaboon ; their types however are different. Evidently 
a conquering people, speaking the Bantou, has become scattered 
through the whole of these various negro tribes, and has bequeathed 
to them their language. It is for Anthropology to separate them. 
In short, the characters derived from linguistics furnish only 
"indications, and not positive information," to quote M. Broca. 
They are not permanent, and simply teach us one of the phases 
which the history of races has passed through. They are valuable 
in the same way as ethnic and archaeological characters, but are 
not to be placed in the same category as anatomical "and physio- 
logical characters, which are perpetuated in spite of crossing and 
the influence of external conditions. In a word, they frequently 
concern peoples and not races. Certain of their elements more 
or less resist absorption however. The vocabulary is the first 
altered, grammatical forms and all that which might be called the 
genius of the language remain to the last. For further detail we 
would refer to the classification of races according to linguistics, 
published by Ered. Miiller in his " Ethnographic Generale," and 
especially to the volume " Linguistique " (2nd edition) of the 
" Bibliotheque des Sciences Contemporaines," the author of Avhich, 
M. Hovelacque, holds similar views to those we have enunciated.* 



Historical and Arcliceological Characters, Sfc. 

If ethnic and linguistic characters are useful in enabling us to 
retrace the 'past histories of races which have become united to 

* See also "La Linguistique et I'Antliropologie," by Paul Broca, in 
" Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," vol. i., 1st series, 1862 ; " L'Origine et la Eepar- 
tition de la Langue Basque," by the same author, in " Eevue d'Anthrop.," 
vol. iv., 1874. 



Chap, ix.] HISTORY. 4?7 

form present races, those of which we are about to speak are still 
more so. In what way have these races been brought into close 
contact with one another or succeeded at one particular point 1 
What struggles have they had to sustain, what examples to follow, 
how have they become commingled, and what remains of the most 
ancient of them*? Such are, in effect, the problems which are 
incessantly presented to the anthropologist when called upon to 
settle the physical and even the biological characters of races. 
Direct sources of information are happily sufficiently numerous. 
Besides those we have already examined, we have written history, 
tradition, and all comiected therewith — heroic poems, books 
of devotion, songs, &;c,, inscrij^tions on rocks, as in India and 
Algeria, or buried, as at Mneveh; and lastly, prehistoric archeeo- 
logy, which furnishes more than mere information on the subject, 
namely, the j^elics belonging to populations which have disappeared. 



History. 

History, as connected with out present subject, concerns peoples- 
in nearest connection with ourselves ; it teaches us their migrations, 
their passions, their intellectual manifestations, their customs, looks 
back some three or four thousand years, and thereby enables us to 
trace the obstacles to which they were subjected at their origin. 
The information indeed which we derive from the Greek and 
Eoman historians scarcely extends beyond the sixteenth century 
before our era. If at that period, which to some would seem 
far distant, we were adequately enlightened, and we knew 
exactly the races which inhabited the globe, and how they were 
distributed — suppose we could look forward for a moment to a 
corresponding period in the future, crossing will have diminished 
the number of pure types ; the native race of America will have 
entirely disappeared — there will be no Esquimaux, or Ainos, or 
Australians, or Bosjesmans; and anthropologists will only have 
whereby to recognise them, exhumed skeletons here and there, in the 
same way as we now have those Avhich come to us from Egypt. 



428 HISTORY. [Chap. ix. 

Imagine tlieir situation if it were possible that there were no 
printed records, no monuments of any kind, and we ourselves had 
no existence. They will judge of the present period as we do that 
of three or four thousand years ago. The question of inferior 

/ races will no longer be in debate, the intermediate races between 
Man and his nearest allies will have disappeared ; there will be no 
linking threads, no beings occupying a transition state ; Man will 

', stand out alone and resplendent to the view of delighted philo- 
sophers. Well, changes such as we are supposing must have been 

' taking place in the three or four thousand years of ancient authors. 
History which would carry us back to that period would be of the 
greatest assistance to us. Africa of itself alone would give us pro- 
bably the key of the problem of Man, the connecting link which has 
disappeared between the Bosjesman and some other zoological 
being. Whether assisted or not by archaeology, history narrates 
that, under the twelfth dynasty, about 2300 B.C., the Egyptians 
consisted of four races : (1) The Mot, or Egyptians, painted red, and 
similar in feature to the peasants now living on the banks of the 
Nile; (2) The Namu, painted yellow, with the aquiline nose, 
corresponding to the populations of Asia to the east of Egypt ; 
(3) The Nashu, or prognathous negroes, with woolly hair; (4) 
The Tdmaliou, whites, with blues eyes. It tells us that seventeen 
centuries before our era, Thothmes III., of the eighteenth dynasty, 
carried his victorious arms over a multitude of peoples, among 
whom are recognised existing types of negroes of Central Africa, 
and that in the year 1500 B.C., a swarm of barbarians, blonde with 
blue eyes, came down upon the western frontier of Egypt from the 
north, while in Europe, at the same moment, an invasion had 
leaped over the Pyrenees, and banished the Ligurians and Sicanians 
into Italy, and the Iberians beyond the Ebro into Africa. 

In another part of the world, in Asia, history shows us, on the 
frontiers of Persia, two rival nations, one to the south-west, in Iran, 
the other to the north-east, in Turan (a Persian word signifying 
"the country of enemies"). Farther oif, from B.C. 1500 to a.d. 250, 
many nomad peoples, one of which, the Hiung-JSTu, encamps to the 
north of the Celestial Empire, and obliges the Chinese to build 



Chap, ix.] HISTORY. 429 

tlie celebrated Great Wall. In India, a yellow people passing 
round the foot of the Himalayas, and coming in contact with 
a black people. Lastly, in Erance, a secular struggle between a 
brown group, which resists, and a succession of invasions of 
blondes from the extreme end of Europe — a struggle of which the 
previous passage into the Iberian peninsula was but an episode. 
We also learn from history that more recently 38,000 Franks 
invaded the Gauls, substituting their own for the Eoman sway, 
which five centuries previously had conquered the Kymris and 
the Celts leagued together under the name of Gauls ; that the 
Hungarians came from the banks of the Obi to establish them- 
selves, after various revolutions, in the country where we now 
find them ; that the Parsees fled from their country during the 
seventh century, dividing into two groups, the one going to the 
Caucasus, where it is almost extinct, the other to Eombay, where 
it now prospers, numbering some 49,000 souls. History-speaks 
also of the Malays making their appearance in the island of 
Sumatra in 1160; of Manco-Capac, founding during the eleventh 
century the dynasty of the Incas of Peru ; of the ^ahuas, who 
emigrated from Florida before the Christian era, leaving Mexico in 
A.D. 174, some following the Mississippi towards the north, others 
going to the Isthmus of Panama towards the south. 

But it is necessary that we should, inquire as to the results of 
the wars and migrations of peoples, the number of the invaders 
and their characters, whether they consisted exclusively of warriors, 
or whether women were associated with them. In one place, where 
a countless horde like the Huns, under Attila, in Western Europe, 
or the Gauls, under Genseric, in the Atlas mountains, passes like a 
hurricane, without leaving a trace j a continuous current, like that 
of the Kymris in Gaul, the Saracens (Arabs and Berbers) in Spain, 
or the Portuguese in South America, modifies the physical type, 
ElseAvhere a handful of individuals makes a good deal of noise, 
gives its language, as well as its religion and its civilisation, to the 
vanquished, and has no other influence on their type. The 
Phoenicians have long been in relation with the coast of Barbary, 
as well as with the sea-coast generally, and, with the exception of 



430 HISTOEY. [Chap. ix. 

two or three colonies, have not left a particle of their hlood among 
their dexjendents. The name by which the peoples are called is 
no proof of their real origin. The English derive theirs from a 
Germanic tribe, the Angles, who inhabited the country to the 
north of the Elbe ; the French, from another Germanic tribe, the 
Eranks ; the Eussians, from Eossi, a Scandinavian whose family 
governed for many ages at Moscow ; the Eulgarians, from a 
Finnish tribe, who made their conquest about the seventh century. 
Each historical datum requires, like linguistic and ethnographic 
characters, to be carefully weighed ; and conquest, however pro- 
longed, does not imply a fusion between the victors and the 
vanquished. 

The question is of direct interest to us, esj^ecially with reference 
to the Aryans. Linguists, finding that all the European languages, 
with the exception of the Basque and the Einnish, are derived 
from the Sanskrit — that before the dispersion of these languages in 
Central Asia, they possessed words for the metals and for the 
various implements of husbandry — mythologists also recognising a 
reciprocal relation between the various religious myths of the 
peoples of the West and those of the East, came to the conclusion, 
the former especially, that the large mass of the peoples of Europe 
were Aryan, and had come from Central Asia. A reaction has 
now set in against this belief. A comparison of the remains of 
ancient races found embedded in the earth in our own country , 
with those of the populations which have succeeded them, shows a 
continuity of type more or less persistent, which the infusion of 
foreign blood from time to time alone interrupted, with here 
and there a mongrel, or disappearing altogether. 

But there has been no positive proof that the Aryans of -the East 
carried with them into the West any thing beyond their civilising 
influence, their language, and their knowledge of the metals. It 
may be questioned whether this influence has not taken place in 
consequence either of a succession of direct emigrations, by a sort 
of infiltration, or by commerce. In Erance, on the other hand, we 
are not Aryans by blood, but by a superposition of various races, 
the majority of which are Kymric in the north, Celtic in the 



Chap, ix.] TRADITION. 431 

centre, and no doubt bearing the nearest analogy to the aborigines, 
at least to the ancient people whose relics have been discovered in 
the caves of the Pyrenees and the Perigord, in the south. 



Tradition. 

Tradition frequently steps in where history is at fault. History 
at first was simply tradition committed to "writing. Such were the 
sources whence the first historians, Herodotus, Moses, &c., drew 
their supplies. The 20,000 verses of the Pin poem, "The 
Kalavela," were for long ages preserved orally, before they were 
brought together and written down by E. Lonnrot in 1850. Again, 
the various pieces which enter into this compilation are slightly 
anterior to the introduction of Christianity into the northern 
countries (ninth to the twelfth century). 

The " Hiad " was founded on some tradition respecting the connec- 
tion of the Greek ancestry with Asia Minor, towards the close of the 
Bronze Period. The "Eamayana," and still more the " Mahabharata," 
rehearse the exploits of the first conquerors, when India was 
peopled by a native race represented with heads like an ape. The 
migrations of the Polynesians, from the island of Boroto or Bouro 
to the various islands of the Pacific, are only known to us by the 
national songs and the local traditions gleaned from each island 
and put together. Traditions ought on no account to be despised. 
When the Ainos represent themselves as coming from the West in 
company with a dog, and the Tehuelches of Patagonia also affirm 
that they sprang from the West, in spite of the enormous distance • 
which separates them from any other land in that direction, this 
ought to make us reflect seriously on the subject. The most 
astonishing migrations moreover are quite possible. Lyell main- 
tained that Man, however savage, transported to any part of the 
globe, would at last bring it entirely under his subjection. By 
land there can be no doubt of this; rivers, mountains, forests, 
swamps, deserts, he leaps over them all, either in masses or in 
groups, whether for his own pleasure or by accident. M. de 



432 TEADITION. [Chap. ix. 

Qnatrefages, in his lectures, tells of tlie exodus of a horde of 
Kalmucks, who, to the number of 400,000, including women and 
children, and in spite of the most incredible obstacles, made a re- 
markable migration from the banks of the Yolga to the eastern 
confines of China. Voyages by sea, under favourable circumstances 
of one kind and another, are no less possible. Islands frequently 
bring into connection the most distant points, like those stepping- 
stones which we threw into the stream to enable us to cross to the 
opposite bank. It is thus that by Kamschatka, the Aleutian 
Islands, and Alaskas, or directly from one side of Behring's Strait 
to the other, the Esquimaux have easily been able to reach America. 
In this way, from Asia to the centre of Oceania there are two 
natural roads, the one by the island of Formosa, the Philippines, 
and the Moluccas, leading to the Fiji Islands, by passing along the 
chain of the Solomon Islands ; the other by the peninsula of 
Malacca, the Sunda archipelago and Timor to Australia^ and on to 
Tasmania. Independently of the various islands scattered about, 
the wind and currents lend their aid. The most contrary winds, 
blowing almost constantly from one particular quarter, change at 
certain periods of the year; and close to the strongest current 
running in one particular direction there is always a counter- 
current. The Gulf Stream of Mexico, and the Equatorial Current 
of the Pacific, are no exceptions to this. They pursue their course 
in one direction for a great distance, but by counter-currents 
they absolutely return again, as we notice in some of our rivers. 
So, however inaccessible or lost in mid-ocean a solitary island may 
appear to be, chance as well as man's will, however inexperienced 
.he may be, may always bring visitors to it. This is how vessels 
coming from the Marianne Islands made the Carolines, which were 
situated at a distance of 600 kilometres. Tradition, even more 
than history, furnishes a multitude of similar examples. 



Chap, ix.] ARCHEOLOGY. 433 



ArclicBology 

Makes its appearance when history and tra.dition are both at 
fault ; not the archaeology whose aim is to discover the traces of 
known events, like the Retreat of the Ten Thousand in Asia Minor, 
the sojourn of the Eomans in Great Britain, or the passage of the 
Eed Sea by the Israelites ; but that which belongs to populations 
of which no history has come down to us, whether written or oral, 
and which inquires into their customs, their industry, their com- 
merce, and even their objects of thought. This we term 'preliistovio 
arclueology. This science makes us acquainted with the dolmens, 
their contents, and the sepulchral object for which they were 
designed. It shows them to us in every direction from the north 
and west of Europe as far as Algeria. It examines the caves which 
are used as a substitute for them, in places where they are found 
naturally, and in countries where, owing to the chalky nature of 
the stone, they were easily excavated. The tumuli which are seen 
from east to west across the middle of Europe from the Caucasus to 
the plains of Champagne ; those of Siberia, for example, examined 
hj Meunier and Eichthal, and afterwards by M. Desor ; those of 
the northern part of America; the constructions called Pelasgic, 
in the Mediterranean, KafFraria, and Arabia; the monoliths of 
Easter Island, representing human figures ; the refuse-heaps of 
Italy; the kjokken-moddings, or kitchen-leavings, close to the 
«ea-shore, in Europe, in Patagonia, as well as in the Andaman 
Islands ; the pile-villages of Switzerland, &c. 

To archaeology in general we refer all that specially has reference 
to the Metal Age, and to prehistoric archaeology that which concerns 
the two Stone epochs, the neolithic and the paleolithic. 

We were just now contemplating with wonder the changes which 
will probably take place in three or four thousand years to come in 
the races now existing, and we were picturing to ourself those 
which have possibly been produced during the last three or four 
thousand years. This lapse of time is, however, but a trifle as 
compared with the ages which have preceded it. One of the first 

2 F 



434 PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGY. [Chap. ix. 

dates of lustory fixed by Mr. Henry Martin, is about tbe year 
1500 B.C. The Egyptian annals make mention, at this period, of 
the advent of a blonde people from the north, whose appearance is 
coincident with the passage of the Celts into Spain. It, however, 
was doubtless merely one of the last efforts of the same people to 
spread towards the south. The dolmens of Algeria and Morocco 
testify that at a previous period invasion after invasion of the same 
populations had taken place. Some of these dolmens contain iron, 
and even historic medals; others, and these the larger number, 
contain only polished-flint implements. It is therefore presumable 
that the conclusion of the Polished Stone epoch in Algeria occurred 
about the period of the last invasion of the blonde people described 
by the Egyptians. This might be fixed in Africa about the year 
2000 B.C. Eut Africa was nearer some of the commercial sources from 
which iron came, and it is very likely that the exact termination of 
the Polished Stone epoch in Western Europe ought to be put farther 
back still. Whenever it may have terminated, there is no doubt 
that the duration of the Polished Stone, or Neolithic epoch, was a 
very lengthened one. It was of sufficient duration to cover Europe, 
from Scandinavia to Gibraltar, with megalithic monuments, with 
grottoes used for purposes of "Surial, as well as for dwelling-places.' 
Great events, such as wars and invasions, took place during the 
period. iJ^ew races sprang up which had time to cross with 
the aboriginal races, and to form almost as many mixed races as 
exist at the present day. The duration of this period, however, is 
as nothing to that of the Rough Stone, or Paleolithic period, which 
preceded it. At the commencement of this latter, the cavern-bear, 
the mammoth, the rhinoceros with partitioned nostril, inhabited 
the whole of Erance. A considerable diminution of temperature 
had favoured their emigration from the north, no doubt, and driven 
them towards the south, or had been the means of destroying some 
of the species which had preceded them. At one time, the glaciers 
had become greatly extended in our country, a relative elevation 
of temperature followed, and assisted in the development of the 
Eauna and Elora. A second cooHng and a second extension of 
glaciers then supervened. Man hunted the great animals above 



Chap. IX.] PEEHISTORIO AECH^OLOGY. 435 

referred to ; this was the Mammoth Age. ) But they began to 
diminish in number, with the exception of one of them, the rein- 
deer, which, on the contrary, multiplied ad infinitum. This was 
the Eeindeer Age. Civilisation and the taste for art became 
developed, particularly in the Perigord and the Pyrenees. Man 
was passing a sedentary life and had nothing, consequently, of the 
Mongol race about him, aU these things betokening his physical 
character. Then the earth became progressively warmer, the rein- 
deer reached the north, the ibex and the marmot were to be seen 
on the mountains. 

During this considerable phase, and especially at its commence- 
ment, our valleys were formed. The bed of the Seine, of which some 
remains are still visible at Montreuil, was fifty-five metres in height, 
^nd consisted of those deposits which are termed the ancient sea- 
levels. Later on, the bed became about twenty-five metres lower, the 
lowest alluvial deposits of Grenelle were formed, and then slowly 
became filled up, forming the banks as we now see them. How 
can we possibly determine the interval which must have elapsed 
between these various deposits ! 

At the Mammoth period, distinguished more particularly by the 
fossil bones of animals and the rough flints left in the alluvia 
of rivers, Man constructed only coarse stone implements, and 
especially those of the shapes called St. Aclieul, so abundant in 
the valley of the Somme. At the following period, intermediate 
between the Mammoth and the Eeindeer, he preferred those forms 
termed Du Moustier. Later on, that is to say at the Eeindeer 
epoch proper, in the valley of La Vezere, we find him taking 
regular steps in the path of progress. Instead of the heavy massive 
implements, flakes of flint were used for javelin points, or fixed 
in handles after the fashion of our graving tools. Man soon 
utilised the bones and horns of the reindeer for the purpose of 
constructing implements of every description, even needles and 
fish-hooks. In other parts of Prance, as at Excideuil, at Solutre 
in the Pyrenees, the method of working the flint continued to 
improve, and implements in the shape of laurel leaves, with finely 
sharpened borders, became common. It was then that the art of 

2 F 2 



PREHISTOEIC ARCHEOLOGY. 



[Chap. ix. 



polishing tlie flint must have commenced, one possibly imported by- 
some conquering nation, but probably also by the application to the 
stone of the process which had already been practised upon bone. 
This double epoch of the Mammoth and Eeindeer was therefore a 
considerable one, and yet from the Mammoth period to the present 
time the interval is almost nothing as compared with the period 
during which Man previously existed. The temperature in Europe, 
contrary to that of the succeeding period, was hotter than it is 
now. Man, whose flint implements have been found in the 
Pliocene formation of St. Prest, hunted the Elephas meridionalis, 
the Rhinoceros etruscus, the B. MercJdi, and the E. 




Fig. 42.— Neanderthal skull in profile (Mammotli epocli). 



At the close of the Miocene epoch, when we have the shell 
heaps of Pouance, Man was in conflict with the mastodon and 
the halitherium, and he possessed a knowledge of fire. We are 
less acquainted with his ancestors who worked the flints found by 
the Abbe Bourgeois at Thenay, in the lower Miocene, below the 
La Beauce chalk. But his existence at that epoch — one but little 
distant from the period at which are deposited the Meudon millstone 
or the Fontainebleau sandstone — is a clearly revealed scientific fact. 
We possess his implements : they indicate a tolerable amount of 
intelligence : but his remains are wanting. Up to the present 
moment archaeologists, or rather geologists, have never found the 
smallest fragment of a human bone. All these questions will be 
considered in detail in the volume of the " Bibliotheque des 



Chap. IX.] PEEHISTORIC EACES. 437 

Sciences Contemporaines," now in the press, entitled "Archeo- 
logie PreMstorique," by M. Gabrielle de Mortillet. 



Prehistoric Races. 

Human palseontology commences with, the Post-pliocene or Mam- 
moth epoch. Examples of it are few in number, and are not 
readily capable of classification. De Quatrefages and Hamy, 
however, have not flinched from this difficult task."^ By joining 
together fragments of male skulls from Canstadt, Eguisheim, 
jBrux, Denise, and the IsTeanderthal, and female skulls from 
Straengences, L'Olmo, and Clichy, they succeeded in discovering in 
them certain common characters ; that is to say, dolichocephaly, a 
remarkable sinking of the vault of the skull, or platycephaly, a great 
recession of the frontal bone, and a very marked development of 
the superciliary arches. Of all the specimens the most remarkable 
are the calvarium of the Il^eanderthal and the jaw of La Naulette. 
Anyone accustomed to handle the skulls of the anthropoid apes 
will be immediately struck with the great resemblance between 
them. The Neanderthal especially reminds one of the calvarium 
of the female gorilla, which is similarly staved in as it were, or of 
the skull of a hylobate. The superciliary arches are altogether 
simian, although the skull is clearly human. Its capacity, 
estimated at 1200. cubic centimetres, dissipates all doubt on the 
subject. The jaw of the ]^aulette is not less remarkable by the 
obliteration of the tubercles geni, and of the projection of the chin; 
there is complete prognathism of the body of the bone, analogous 
cases of which are seen in races now existing, although not to the 
same extent. We are unable to come to any decided conclusion 
upon the matter however. 

The characters of the Neanderthal are found, though in a less 
degree, in the majority of the other specimens collected by 
MM. de Quatrefages and Hamy, to which the generic name of 
Canstadt Race has been given. It is not impossible, however, that 

* " Crania Ethnica. Les Cranes des Eaces Humaines, decrits par MM. 
de Quatrefages et E. T. Hamy." Paris, 1873-75. 



438 PEEHISTORIC KACES. [Chap. ix. 

this type was an exceptional one, and tliat these were cases of 
atavism, and represented less a race belonging to the Mammoth 
Age than one of the Pliocene or Miocene epoch. This is, no douht, 
the case as regards the famous I^amaqua skulls in the Museum, 
whose prognathism is most remarkable, although they came from 
the midst of a Hottentot race. They might be the representatives 
of a previous African race which had become extinct. From the 
meteorological and geological changes which took place at the close 
of the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, we can easily understand how 
it was that the majority of the inhabitants of Thenay and Pouance 
succumbed, and that only a small number, namely, those who were 
able to escape from the destroying causes, survived. JSTow the 
inferior races disappear, while the superior increase in number. This 
fact, however we may explain it, is one against which it is impos- 
sible to contend. At that prodigiously remote period there were 
necessarily inferior as well as superior races. The same law was 
doubtless in existence then as now. It is possible, therefore, while 
admitting that the Neanderthal was an exception, that it represents 
one of those inferior races which has disappeared. It would be at 
the Mammoth period, in relation to anterior races, as a tribe or an 
individual, whether Indian or !N"egro, will be in three thousand 
years in relation to ourselves. 

Admitting that the Neanderthal belonged to a race of the period, 
or to an anterior race, is it the skull of a man in the sense in which 
we use the term 1 In other words. Had he or his ancestors to answer 
for it 1 We know that the man of the upper Miocene period was 
acquainted with the use of fire. In point of fact. Was the 
Neanderthal race more nearly allied to the Anthropoids, whether 
known or unknown, or to ourselves 1 We simply ask the question. 

The palseontological remains of the succeeding epoch, or Reindeer 
Age, in Western Europe, have been studied by the authors of the 
" Crania Ethnica," by whom they have been termed the Cro-Magnon 
Race, taking as its type the subjects exhumed from the cave of that 
name in the Perigord, by Christy and Lartet. As compared with 
the Canstadt race, they seem but of yesterday. After an exami- 
nation, in 1872, of several parts of the Cro-Magnon cave previously 



Chap. IX.] PREHISTOEIC RACES. 439 

untouched, we were of the same opinion. Their essential characters 
are as follows, according to De Quatrefages and Hamy : They are 
dolichocephalic, like the skulls of the Canstadt race. They have a 
high forehead, broad, and well developed above the superciliary 
ridges, of average size, the vault being rather high, with a fine curve 
continuing regularly from the forehead to the obelion, where it 
bends down to form an oblique flat, which is continued on into the 



Fig. 43.— Skull of the Old Man of Cro-Magnon, Eyzies (Reindeer epoch). 

supra-occipital region. The frontal bosses, which are as though 
flattened in the preceding race, are in this high and projecting. 
The face is broad and short in relation to the maximum length of 
the skull, the orbits are deep, in the form of a parallelogram, having 
a minimum index of sixty-one, the smallest on record. There is 
considerable prognathism at the sub-nasal portion in the old man of 
Cro-Magnon_, namely, 6 2 "8° according to one measurement, as much 
as in the most prognathous negro. In looking at this last trait of 
the corresponding prognathism presented by the other specimens of 



440 PREHISTOEIC EACES. [Chap. ix. 

the same group collected loj De Quatrefages and Hamy, we are 
nevertheless inclined to think that this old man was an exception. 
One of the Grenelle skulls, on the contrary, exhibits one of the 
weakest prognathisms we have examined, namely, 86*7°. The 
projection of the mental eminence of the lower jaw is considerable, 
and is in strong contrast with the absolute obliteration of the same 
part in the Il^aulette jaw. 

The Cro-Magnon race, if we may judge of it by the bones in our 
possession, was of tall stature, robust, the skeleton presenting the 
characters we have described above, namely, the platycnemic tibia, 
the anteriorly-channelled fibula, the thick linea aspera of the femur, 
and the curve of the upper fourth of the forearm. After the Cro- 
Magnon race, the authors of the " Crania Ethnica" describe in Western 
Europe certain less frequent types of the Paleolithic epoch, namely, 
the brachycephalic type, represented by the skull discovered at La 
Truchere, near Lyon, close to the Eleplias primigenius, and by two 
or three other skulls found at Grenelle, near Paris, in the alluvia of 
the middle levels above the dolichocephales of the previous races ; 
the Mesaticephalic and the Sub-brachycephalic type described under- 
the name of Furfooz Race, and found in the strata posterior to those 
of Cro-Magnon. It remains for us to make a resume of the results, 
to which the various communications of M. Broca have led with 
regard to the region which at those epochs has greater interest for' 
us, namely, our own country of Erance. 

When the admirable discoveries of linguists had established: 
the kindred and relationship of the Indo-European languages, we^ 
were led to believe that Europe had been peopled, as we said just, 
now, by immigrants from that region of Asia in which we might, 
discover remains nearest akin to the common linguistic stock.. 
Various considerations, moreover, led us to suppose that these' 
immigrants carried with them the use of metals, religion, &c.. 
But two languages, which two small groups of peoples spoke,, 
escaped the general law — namely, the Eins and the Basques. 
Eetzius, ascertaining that the former were brachycephalic, thought 
that the latter were so likewise; and noticing that the Swedes 
around him were dolichocephalic, formulated his celebrated pro- 



Chap, ix.] PEEHISTORIC EACES. 441 

position, that the autochthonous race of Europe was hrachy- 
cephalic, and that which came after dolichocephalic. Gradually, 
however, M. Broca was enabled to prove from abundance of facts 
that the Basques are dolichocephalic, and that the proposition of 
Eetzius ought to be reversed, the most ancient inhabitants of 
Europe being dolichocephalic, and those coming afterwards brachy- 
cephalic. Thus the most ancient race of France represented by 
the three Cro-Magnon skulls, the two of Laugerie, the three of the 
middle and lower levels of Grenelle, had a dolichocephalic index 
of from 73 to 75. So the race from the cavern of I'Homme Mort, 
which has all the appearance of that of Cro-Magnon, has an average 
index of 73-22°. 

The precise period when the brachycephales penetrated into 
Western Europe has not been determined. Certain little tribes- 
ivith round skulls have possibly made their appearance here and 
there since the Paleolithic epoch, but they have only done 
so in large numbers at a later period. At the close of the 
Eough Stone epoch, at Solutre for example, M. Broca proves the 
existence of two races united together, the one dolichocephalic, 
having the appearance of the race of I'Homme Mort, the other 
sub-brachycephalic, approaching nearer to the Eurfooz race. 

In England the facts are determined in a precise manner. There 
exist in that country two sorts of dolmens, the long, called long 
darroius, containing only polished-stone implements, and skulls for 
the most part thoroughly dolichocephalic ; the others round, and of 
a different construction, the round harroivs, containing metal, and a 
great number of brachycephalic together with dolichocephalic skulls- 
of the preceding race, as well as mesaticephalic, the issue no doubt 
of crossing between the two. 

The date of their first appearance in England is therefore fixed. 
They came in at the close of the Polished Stone period, at the 
same time as the metals. But did they arrive directly, or by 
passing through France'? The track left by the brachycephales 
on the Swiss frontier, at the extreme point of Brittany, would 
incline us to the latter view. It must be admitted — (1) That 
the most ancient inhabitants of France were dolichocephalic; 



442 ANTHROPOLOGICAL TYPES. [Chap. x. 

(2) That a small number of bracliycepliales afterwards crept in 
among them, but without changing their ethnic basis ; (3) That the 
immigration of these latter towards the close of the Paleolithic 
epoch was remarkable from the fact of its limiting itself to certain 
points of territory, as the Maconnais ; (4) That an invasion must 
then have been made from the north, bringing with it the custom 
of burying in dolmens or grottoes, but which being dolichocephales, 
or numerically very inferior, bequeathed to the population its 
dolichocephalic character, though somewhat lessened (indices in the 
dolmens in the neighbourhood of Paris 75-01 ; in the grottoes of 
La Marne, where it is less pure, 77*78) ; (5) That, lastly, the 
invasion of the brachycephales already commenced in the east, and 
probably passing by two currents, the one below, the other above 
the Alpine range, assumed greater proportions at the close of the 
Polished Stone period, traversed through the centre of France, and 
there crossed with the ancient aboriginal race, giving origin to the 
new historic race, which we shall describe farther on, under the 
name of Celtic type. All these questions have to do with Anthro- 
pology pure and simple, and especially with craniometry ; but the 
inquiry as to their elements, the determination of the age and 
circumstances of strata, the discovery of relics of industry, and 
other memorials of that remote past, are in the domain of 
prehistoric archeology and geology ; for what, after all, is geology, 
but the archaeology of the earth and its inhabitants ? 



CHAPTER X. 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL TYPES BLONDE AND BROWN EUROPEAN TYPES 

HINDOO, TSCHINGHANIAN, IRANIAN, CELTIC, BERBER, SEMITIC, 
ARABIAN TYPES. 

The four orders of characters which we have been describing 
are not, as we have said, of equal value. If the races now in 



Chap. X.] ANTHEOPOLOGICAL TYPES. 443 

existence were pure and homogeneous, such, as nature made them, 
it would suffice to sum up their differences and their resemblances, 
to take account of their individual varieties and pathological devia- 
tions, and to proceed to give them their most natural position. But 
the ground is altogether different — unity is wanting. Eaces have been 
divided^ dispersed, intermixed, crossed in various proportions and 
in all directions, for thousands of ages. The greater part of them 
have relinquished their language for that of their conquerors, or for 
a third or even for a fourth; the principal masses have disappeared, 
and we find ourselves no longer in the presence of races, but of 
peoples, the origins of which we have to trace or to make a direct 
classification of. In other words, there are two orders of classi- 
fication, which we must not confound, namely, the classification of 
the masses of human beings, such as the flux and reflux of time 
have left us; and the classification of races such as we are able 
to arrive at after a most minute process of analysis. The former is 
ethnological, the latter, anthropological. Their point of departure 
is the same, the point at which they meet, difi'erent. The most 
important classifications of the human races have, as their basis, 
physical characters, such as the nature of the hair and the colour 
of the skin, and then immediately diverge in every direction. 
They agree however in details, when they concern some tribe 
isolated, owing to exceptional circumstances, like the Esquimaux in 
Greenland or the Tasmanians in Van Diemen's Land. But beyond 
that the ethnographical point of view is alone apparent, and the 
use of the word race is most unfortunate. We speak of Anglo- 
Germanic and Latin races, of German, English, Slav races, as 
if these epithets had anything more than a political signification, a 
fortuitous aggregation of anthropological elements from various 
sources. Li France, where the nation is so homogeneous and 
unity so complete, there are the French people but not the French 
race. We find in the north the descendants of the Belgse, the 
Walloons, and other Kymris; in the east, those of Germans and 
Burgundians; in the west, JSTormans; in the centre, Celts, who at 
the same epoch at which their name took its origin consisted of 
foreigners of various origins and of the aborigines ; in the south, 



444 ANTHROPOLOGICAL TYPES. [Cktap. x, 

ancient Aquitanians and Basques; without mentioning a host of 
settlers like the Saracens, which are found here and there, 
Tectosages which have left at Toulouse the custom of cranial 
deformations, and the traders who passed through the Phocsean 
town of Marseilles. In Asia, where the peoples have heen tossed 
ahout from east to west and from west to east, in so prodigious 
a way that the most characteristic race is found perhaps on 
the other side of the Pacific, in the polar zone; in Africa, where 
a similar movement has taken place at different times; in America, 
where great convulsions in historic epochs have taken place — we 
no longer meet with primitive races, hut with the resultants of 
repeated crossing, of close contact, of mixture of every kind. 
Classifications with elements such as these are little more than 
ethnographic. 

Gerdy rightly afiirmed that there are no longer any pure races. 
Our illustrious master, M. Broca, however, allows that there are 
some, and M. de Quatrefages a short time since puhlished a long 
list of those " regarded as pure." Douhtless, if we are satisfied 
with a small numher of individuals or of skulls, we may discover 
in them, or unite them into, an identity of type. " Whoever has 
seen one Tod'a," says Mr. Marshall, "has seen the whole race.'* 
Be it so, we will record his statement. 

Of all races, we are told, there is not a more homogeneous 
one than that of the Esquimaux, thanks to their isolation, which 
has been maintained in consequence of geographical and atmo- 
spheric circumstances. There are ahout a dozen skulls in the 
Museum, all from Greenland, forming the most homogeneous 
series in the collection. But in the Denmark collection, from 
which some specimens were brought to the Geographical Congress 
at Paris, this unity of type is not perfect, and we discover in 
them indications of hybridity. In Mr. Davis's collection, from 
the shores of Baffin's Bay^ the differences are still more marked. 
Travellers speak of similar and equally important differences as 
existing at the present time. Variations in stature are very 
common. At Morton's Strait the stature is 1-82 metre; at 
Barrow Point, 1*54-. In one tribe the average stature of the men 



Dhap. X.] ANTHEOPOLOGICAL TYPES. 445 

is 1*714 metre, in another 1-584. Greenlanders are looked upon 
as one of the smallest of the human races. At Hotham Harbour, 
an Esquimau "was exactly like a negro," at Spafarrat Inlet, 
"like a Jew" (Seeman). "The oval face, associated with the 
Eoman nose," is by no means rare {King). The complexion is 
sometimes very fair, sometime^ very dark. In the series of Malay 
skulls, one of the most homogeneous in the Museum, there are at 
least two types. We think we have shown that there is no 
unity among the Australians. In Patagonia, the skulls of the 
ancient Paraderos are of two very opposite types, one being 
'dolichocephalic, the other brachycephalic. Among the Japanese 
there are three distinct types noticeable in the living subject 
(Mostly), and a fourth which we may gather from an exami- 
nation of skulls. Among the Ainos, in the same country, 
there are certainly two. Along the coast of Guinea the tribes 
vary, even at short distances from one another; and travellers 
describe altogether different characters in one and the same 
tribe, according to the particular individuals upon whom they 
happen to have fixed their attention. Among Hottentots it is 
even Avorse. 

We are not aware but of one example of perfect identity of type 
in a human group, namely, that of the Andamans. We have had 
■an opportunity of seeing twenty-two photographs of this race, and 
in all, the heads appear as if cast in the same mould. Colonel 
Man, however, affirms that there are two different races in the 
Andaman archipelago. We may remark that Mr. Owen, on 
measuring ninety-six skulls of negroes of the Gaboon, was 
astonished at their remarkable resemblance to each other, which 
was even greater than we notice among Europeans. In a word, 
the greater number of classifications of any extent are only anthro- 
pological as regards their basis. As soon as we enter upon 
;secondary divisions they become ethnographic, and have not so 
much to do with races as with peoples. The true classification 
of the divisions and subdivisions of the human family has yet to 
be made, and cannot be entered upon until we know the real 
^component elements of peoples now in existence. Given a certain 



446 ANTHROPOLOGICAL TYPES. [Chap. x. 

group, the following questions will arise for our consideration: 
(1) What, in a physical and physiological point of view, is its 
average, that is to say, the type "l (2) Are the variations from 
this average so slight as to enable us to look upon the type as 
pure 1 (3) Are the variations so divergent, and are the average 
secondary groups sufficiently definite, to enable us to recognise in 
them one or many types 1 (4) Has there been a close fusion of 
those types ? in other words, has the race crossed, or have the 
types remained distinct, or is the race only a mixed one 1 By this 
means we at last separate the characters of one, two, or more types 
successively. Ethnography gives us valuable aid as regards the 
majority of these questions ; linguistics equally so ; and more than 
all, the study of the characters of ancient human remains found 
embedded in the earth. It is thus that M. Eroca has succeeded 
in eliminating the Celtic element, which has contributed to form 
the Ereton group, and thus that he hopes eventually to trace 
the original elements of which the Celtic group itself is composed. 
A sufficient number of the most characteristic of the first, second, 
and third order being thus determined, it will be necessary to 
search for their kindred, and to classify them. "We should only 
then have seriously to inquire whether they belong to genera, 
species, or varieties. The task is a long and laborious one. 
Science is in a transition state on this matter. Some general types 
have been already acquired, although we cannot always affirm 
which hmnan group expresses them the best. Others have only 
been accepted provisionally, while of others we have a preconceived 
idea, and are nevertheless unable to determine them even with 
the specimens before us. In the resume that we are about to give 
we must therefore only look upon them as one series of land- 
marks, indicating one of the stages at which anthropology has 
arrived. 

Ey human ty]pe must be understood the average of characters 
which a human race supposed to be pure presents. In homogeneous 
races, if such there are, it is discovered by the simple inspection of 
individuals. In the generality of cases it must be segregated. It 
is then a physical ideal, to which the greater number of the 



Chap. X.] EUKOPEAN TYPE. 447 

individuals of the group more or less approach, but which is better 
marked in some than in others. Frequently in one series it is 
associated Avith some other type. Sometimes at its extreme 
boundaries it is amalgamated with the type of another group. 
Of course community of type implies a relationship of some sort. 
There are general types, then types and sub-types of these, and in 
each of the latter, other divisions. When once fixed by science, 
they will even form bases of classification. 

Let us take an example : the Berber people is formed — (1) Of a 
brown autochthonous groundwork, that is to say of the most 
ancient of which we can find any trace ; (2) Of blondes from the 
north, Arabs from the east, and negroes from the south. The 
Berber type is the ensemhle of the characters which must have be- 
longed exclusively to the autochthonous stock : its sub-types are 
the Tawarek, the Kabyl, &c. It is itself the ofispring of some 
other more general type of which we are still ignorant. 

We shall now have to describe types which are altogether 
relative, such as the Celtic. This is one of the constituent 
elements of the ethnographic French race, and is itself composed 
of many original types, which we ought to be thoroughly ac- 
quainted with. The first types for our consideration correspond to 
what anthropologists call, according to their several notions, species, 
races, trunks, or branches. These are the European, the Mongohan, 
the negro of Africa, the Hottentot. We shall separate the 
American from the second, and add a red type in Africa. We shall 
give a separate paragraph to the Fin, the Lapp, the Australoid, and 
the two negro types of Oceania ; and then notice some others of 
less importance, without concerning ourselves about those of a 
subordinate character. 



TJie European Type. 

The European type is very defined, although its title is hardly 
an exact one. Even by leaving out of consideration all the 
emigrations posterior to the sixteenth century, we meet with it in 



448 EUROPEAN TYPE. [Chap. x. 

all four quarters of the globe. In Europe, with the exception 
perhaps of the Lapps and the Fin races, it is general. In Asia it 
is largely represented hj the Semites^ the Persians, the AfFghans, 
the Hindoos, and doubtless also by the Ainos, the Miaotse, the 
Todas. In Africa it is represented by the Berbers; and in 
America the existence of natives which are considered to belong 
to it has been frequently noticed. Its characters may be thus 
summed up : 

The complexion is always fair among the children. The pilous 
system is moderately developed. The beard, the moustache, and 
the whiskers are abundant. The hair is straight, wavy, or undu- 
lated, long and flexible. The top of the head is round. The 
Qiorma verticalis\ of the skull is oval, with a regular outline, 
the zymotic arches being unnoticeable. The anterior cranium 
is very developed relatively to the posterior. The capacity of the 
cranial cavity reaches the highest amount recorded, namely, 1523 
cubic centimetres, in the Celtic type. The cranial sutures are very 
complicated. The greater wings of the sphenoid are articulated 
with the parietal to a considerable extent. The curve described 
by the temporal line is not a large one. The forehead is broad 
below, well developed, the summit being neither receding nor 
projecting. The frontal bosses on each side -are moderately dis- 
tinct. The superciliary arches vary, never exhibiting, in the male 
sex, the large size which we notice in the Melanesian races, nor 
the obliteration peculiar to the majority of Mongolian or negro 
skulls. The face, looked at in front, describes rather a long oval, 
the malar bones, or the maxillary apparatus, not being particularly 
marked, as in the Mongolian type or the Negro types. The 
median projecting portions present, when developed in their highest 
deo-ree, what is familiarly termed the face like the blade of a 
knife. The nose is highly characteristic in the European type, 
and projects in front at the expense of its transverse diameter. 
Its two lateral surfaces are united at an acute angle. Its point is 
firm and the two nostrils, situated on the same horizontal plane, are 
elliptical, directed from before backwards, and almost parallel. 
The skeleton of the nose is leptorrhinian or mesorrhinian, never 



Chap. X.] BLONDE TYPE. 449 

platyrrhinian. Its anterior aperture lias the sliape of an ace of 
hearts reversed, its point being very long, its hase being formed 
by the nasal spine, frequently very long, and by a simple sharp 
border. The ensemble of the two jaws and the teeth, in profile, 
is almost a right line. It is to the European type that we apply 
the term " orthognathism," to express the minimum of prognathism 
observed in Man. This minimum varies from 82° to 75*5°. The 
mouth is smaU, the lips bright red, well formed, never thick, 
except in individuals of a certain temperament. The teeth are 
straight, close together, bluish white or yellowish white, and 
subject to caries. The chin is projecting. The shape of the ear is 
that of a long oval, with folds above and behind, the lobule being 
well formed. Lastly, the plane of the prolonged occipital foramen 
meets the face above the middle of the nose, and frequently at its 
root. Beaut}'' of form does not specially belong to the European, 
and many savages would surpass him in this respect. Most com- 
monly, however, he is well-proportioned, tall, or of medium 
height; his neck is large and finely formed, his chest broad, 
shoulders wide, the bend of the back weU marked, the muscles of 
the buttocks strong, the calf large, and reaching below the middle 
of the leg, the foot well arched, and he seldom exhibits those 
deformities of the abdomen and limbs noticed by the early navi- 
gators in the inferior races. The European becomes decrepit less 
quickly than the negro, the breasts in the woman retain their 
firmness and proper form for a longer period, and the articulations 
of the joints are rather small. For a description of the proportions 
of the body, see pages 315, 331, et seq. 

The two most natural divisions of the European type are the 
blonde and the brown. 

The Blonde Tyioe. 

The Monde type, in its highest expression, is marked by three 
special characteristics : namely^ blue eyes, fair hair, and light rosy 
or florid complexion, which becomes of a uniform red-brick colour 
or freckled under exposure to the sun. 



450 BLONDE TYPE. [Chap, x. 

The eyes assume various shades of green, gray, yellowish, light 
brown, &c., according as they are associated with one of the two 
other characters. The reddish colour of the eyes of the albino must 
be considered as quite distinct. Yellow-golden hair, or reddish and 
chestnut, are in the same category. These last, however, have less 
value, inasmuch as on the one hand they frequently correspond with 
a first degree of crossing of the blonde with the brown type, and on 
the other are characteristic of other types than the blonde and 
brown. Dr. Beddoe does not give any particular significance to 
red hair. We think, however, that in the generality of cases it is 
a form of light hair, and sometimes is characteristic of a distinct 
type, of which we shall speak presently. With regard to the shades 
of colour of the skin, they have less value, inasmuch as they are 
more easily affected by crossing and external circumstances. Blue 
eyes are after all the most certain element upon which to fix, on 
looking at a single individual, or in the absence of a sufiicient. 
description of other characters, the actual or past existence of the 
blonde type in the blood. 

This type, whether complete or incomplete, has spread over four 
out of the five portions of the globe. The peoples belonging to it 
possess in a high degree the faculty of emigration and colonisation, 
without being indebted for it to a very highly-developed faculty of 
acclimation. The natural centre whence it has shed its lustre 
seems to be the north of Europe. The purest example of the 
blonde type is in Iceland, in the Scandinavian peninsula, Lapland 
excepted, and Denmark. Then Holland, ^N'orth Germany, Saxony, 
Belgium, and the British Isles. In Erance it is less pronounced, 
and stops at about the position of an oblique line passing from 
GranviUe, on the coast of the British Channel, to Lyon. Here and 
there, however, it is found more to the south, particularly in the 
Basque territory, and in the south of Spain. The populations 
belonging to it are tall, stout, and square-built, or sKm ; the face is 
long, the nose large and straight, the point extending slightly 
beyond the nostrils. They are of lymphatic temperament, the 
passions not very strong, and individuality very marked. The 
shape of the head is difficult to determine, owing to the numerous 



Chap, x.] BLONDE TYPE. 451 

crosses here and there which have caused a change in it. The 
Danes are brachycephalic, the I^ormans mesaticephalic, the Nor- 
wegians, Swedes, Belgians, and English dolichocephalic. With 
regard to the Germans in the extended sense, they present every 
form imaginable. Tor our part we are convinced that the primi- 
tive blonde type was dolichocephalic. 

In another race, that of the Irish in Dublin, Dr. Beddoe 
found in 1300 individuals 54 per cent, with fair hair, of whom 
5 -per cent, were red, 13 flaxen, and 36 chestnut — or rather 
more than half blondes, according to the hair. Dr. Wilde, on the 
other hand, found in 1200 other Irish, 24 per cent, with blue 
eyes, 9 brown, and QQ decidedly dark. The Dutch are therefore 
much purer as blondes than the Irish. Again, in the Basque 
provinces. Dr. Argellies found light eyes in 22 out of 47 indi- 
viduals, of whom 14 had blue and 25 brown eyes, while there 
was not a single example among them of flaxen hair, only 2 of 
red, some few of dark chestnut, and the rest black. It follows 
from this that the present Basque race is formed of two elements — 
the brown and the blonde; that it is decidedly brown if we 
are to judge by the hair, at least in the localities observed, and 
that the blonde type is to be traced in the colour of the eyes 
and not in that of the hair. The Irish statistics indicate, on the 
contrary, that of the two elements, the more persistent is that 
of the hair. We refer the reader to page 346 for other important 
details, and to the tables at pages 348 and 349 for the relative 
proportion of flaxen, chestnut, and brown in diff'erent races, the 
two elements, the hair and the eyes, being associated together. 
The blonde type, with its three fundamental characters, is met 
with in other parts of the world, but seeing the difficulty of being 
guided by descriptions derived from the hair and skin, we shall 
only consider the question as regards blue eyes. 

In Asia, we at once notice the blonde type on the banks of 
the river Amour (KlaprotJt, J. Barroiv, Castren). "We saw 
Mantshii Tartars," says Barrow, "who accompanied Macartney's 
embassy to Pekin, men as well as women, who were extremely 
fair and of florid complexion; some of the men had light blue 

2 G 2 



452 BLONDE TYPE. [Chap. x. 

eyes, a straight or aquiline nose, brown hair, and a large and bushy 
beard." Among the Miau Tsz of the south-east of China there are 
tribes which pass for the aborigines of the Celestial Empire. We 
find it in India, notably among the Kattees, who have. som.etimes 
*' light hair and blue eyes " {Prichard and L. JRousselet), and even 
in Ceylon, among the Cingalese (Davy). The Bussahirs of Eham- 
poor, not far from the sources of the Ganges, are frequently of 
very fair complexion though tanned by the sun, with blue eyes, 
hair and beard curly and of light colour, or even red (Fraser). 
(2) The Patans or Affghan soldiers are commonly brown, and of 
the Iranian race, but a large number have "red hair and blue 
eyes, and a fair and florid complexion" (Fraser). But the most 
celebrated example is that of Siah Posh of Kafflristan, at the 
junction of the Himalaya and the Hindoo-Koosh. The majority 
are tall, have Caucasian features, fair complexion, blue eyes, 
and chestnut hair. According to their traditions they came from 
Affghanistan; they speak a language derived from the Sanskrit, and 
have burial rites which remind one of those of the Parsees. We 
may add, according to Mr. G-. Hayward, that light chestnut hair is 
more common than black among the inhabitants of Darnistan, 
that the eyes are gray, chestnut, and occasionally blue, and that 
the women remind one very much of the English. Some of 
the Kirghis of Turkestan, and the Tadzhiks of Persia have " blue 
or gray eyes," and among the Ossetians, the Abassians, and the 
Swanethians of the southern side of the Caucasus, there are 
individuals with "flaxen hair, fair complexion, and blue eyes," 
whom we must not confound with the recent German immigrants. 
These examples show that the blonde type has to a certain 
extent prevailed in Asia, but they are not such as to induce 
us to suppose that it was cradled in this part of the world. 
It has been satisfactorily shown that the blonde type exists in 
the north of Africa. In Tunis, in Algeria, in Morocco, in the 
Canary Islands, and in the Sahara, it exists everywhere. It is 
derived from a Tamahou people, who, about the year 1500 before 
our era;, made their appearance on the frontiers of Egypt, coming 
from the north. The blondes which we meet with in the Basque 



Chap. X.] BROWN EUROPEAN TYPES. 453 

territory, and near the Strait of Gibraltar in Spain, are probably 
descendants of theirs. 

Dr. Schweinftirth remarked, in Central Africa, in the Mon- 
bouttous' country, the frequency of light or reddish hair. The 
greater number are complete albinos, as he has taken care to tell 
us. Others are only so in a slight degree. Others may hold to 
the practice, so common in Africa, of dyeing or colouring the hair. 
In the present state of science, it must be allowed that in really 
jN'egro centres blondes are never met with unassociated with 
albinism. 

The facts mentioned with respect to America should be looked 
at differently. They arise no doubt from blondes imported from 
Europe, to whatever remote period this importation may be referred, 
and whatever the course they may happen to have followed. A 
tradition of this kind exists among the Boronos of the eastern 
chain of the Chilian Andes, among whom we find blue eyes, 
associated sometimes with black, sometimes with light or red hair, 
and with the ordinary features of the American races. Another 
remarkable example is that of the Mandans, mentioned by Catlin, 
who have " hair as light as the mixed breeds, with chestnut, gray, 
or blue eyes." The Athapascans have also been described as having 
among them individuals with gray eyes {Mackenzie). Light hair 
is also seen among the Lee-Pangwes (Pike), and people with 
very fair complexion among the Antisians (D'Orbigny) and the 
Koluches (Dixon). 

TJie Brown European Types. 

The hrown European types are characterised by dark eyes, 
absolutely black hair, and fair skin, which readily becomes a warm 
bronze tint by exposure to the sun. Were we to leave out the 
blonde races, which have manifestly crossed, it would be difficult to 
separate some sub-types from the general blonde type of which we 
have just spoken. The Scandinavian and the Dane would 
perhaps be the only ones. The brown types, on the contrary, are 
very numerous. It is usual 'to divide the fair races into two 



454 BEOWN EUROPEAN TYPES. [Chap. x. 

brandies, the Hindoo and the European. This is a linguistic 
division only; the first term however must be retained in order that 
we may find in it an anthropological type. After this, we must 
accept the Tschinghanian type, on account of the probable hypo- 
theses to which it has given rise. If we suppose an Aryan 
migration from the east to the west, we must equally admit an 
Iranian type for those remaining behind, which we still find on 
the spot. Having disposed of the blonde types seen in Europe, 
we have yet to speak of the most remarkable brown types, namely, 
the Circassian, the Pelasgian or Albanian, the Ligurian, the Basque, 
&c. &c. Then, as we pass round the Mediterranean, the Berber and 
the Semitic, which are most certainly allied to the European types. 
In this enumeration no Slav or German type appears. The 
reason is because there is no such. In Eussia in Europe^ for 
example, the populations are Finnish, or a mixed race of Eins 
from the north, more or less Mongolian here and there, and having 
some ill-defined brown element in the south. Among the peasants, 
who, as everywhere, more properly represent the primitive element, 
we find countenances which remind us of those of the pure Ainos 
and the Todas. Where then are we to get the Slav type 1 This 
name appeared in history with the Wendes, the Antes, previously 
called by the Greeks Serbs, and the Sclavens (Jornandes). In 
552 the Sclavens are before Constantinople. Erom the sixth to the 
seventh century the Wendes advance as far as the banks of the Elbe. 
But whence has originated the Slav language, which alone justifies 
its pretension to a corresponding type 1 We know not. ^ow the 
peoples which speak it, or its derivatives, are divided into two 
groups : the western, including the Poles or Laechs, the Bohemians 
or Tchechs, of which the Slovaks form a part, and the Wendes of 
Lusatia ; and the south-eastern, divided into Great Eussians or 
Muscovites, Little Eussians, Euthenians or Eussniaks, White 
Eussians, Bulgarians, and Serbs — these last including Croatians, 
Dalmatians, Bosnians, and Slovenians, &c. The only character 
which is common to them all, besides language, is brachycephaly. 
Eoumanians and Hungarians are also brachycephalic, as well as 
a large number of Germans, Italians, and Erench. 



Chap. X.] BEOWN EUEOPBAN TYPES. 455 

Mr. Edwards describes, in the following terms, a type wMch. 
lie has noticed as predominating among Poles, Silesians, Moravians, 
Bohemians, Hungarians, and Eussians : " The outline of the head 
looked at in front appears square, because the height somewhat 
exceeds the breadth, and the top is sensibly fiat, and the direction 
of the jaw horizontal. The length of the nose is less than the 
distance from its base to the chin. It is almost straight, that is to 
saj without any decided curve, but if this is at all appreciable it 
is slightly concave, so that the end has a tendency to turn up. 
The lower part is somewhat wide, and the extremity rounded. 
The eyes, somewhat sunken, are exactly on the same line, and if 
they have any peculiarity, it is that they seem smaller than they 
should be relatively to the size of the head. The eyebrows are 
scant, very near together, especially at the inner angle ; they are 
frequently directed obliquely outwards. An additional character 
to the preceding, and which is very general, is to be noticed, 
namely, the small size of the beard, except on the upper lip." He 
looks upon it as a Slav peculiarity, but is it not rather that of some 
anterior prehistoric race belonging to this region of Europe ? 

In Germany it is still more difficult to get at a German type. 
The course of all the invasions into this country has been from 
east to west, including those which terminated in the north or 
centre of France. !N"either its prehistoric constitution nor these 
continual surgings of invasion have in the slightest degree succeeded 
in constituting it a homogeneous type. In the south and centre 
it is brachycephalic, in the north dolichocephalic. The primitive 
Germans were dolichocephalic, while the Bavarians and the Badois, 
on the other hand, were brachycephalic. The colour of the eyes 
and hair gives evidence in the same way of the mixture of manifold 
races, judging from the statistics of Virchow, Mayr, Sasse, &c. 
The Germans moreover resign their pretensions to being a distinct 
type ', they have discovered that after ail they are no exception to 
the other populations in Europe, and that if they are a federation 
of peoples, they are not an anthropological race. 

In Erance there is no longer the Erench type only : there are 
many types, of which one is sufficiently characteristic, as to 



456 HINDOO AND TSCHINGHANIAN TYPES. [Chap. x. 

physique as well as Mstorically, for us to give it a place under the 
name of Celtic type among the brown Europeans that we are now 
examining, without being satisfied however that this position is its 
true one. 

Tlie Hindoo Ty]pe. 

The Hindoo type is but faintly represented in India by the 
Eajpoots, and especially by the most venerated Brahmans of Mattra, 
Eenares, and Tannesar, in Hindostan. The population of the Indian 
peninsula is composed of three strata: namely, the Black, the 
MongoHan, and the Aryan. The remnants of the first are at the 
present time shut up in the mountains of Central India, under the 
name of Bhills, Mahairs, Ghonds, and Khondsj and in the south 
under that of Yenadis, Maravers, Kurumbas, Veddahs, &c. Its 
primitive characters, apart from its black colour and low stature, 
are difficult to discover, but it is to be noticed that travellers do not 
speak of woolly hair in India. The second has spread over the 
plateaux of Central Asia by two lines of Avay, one to the north- 
east, the other to the north-west. The remnants of the first, 
invasion are seen in the Dravidian or Tamul tribes, and those of the 
second in the Jahts. The third, more recent and more important as. 
to quality than as to number, was the Aryan. 

" The Brahmans of the banks of the Ganges," says M. Eousselet,, 
*' have the high well-developed forehead, oval face, the eyes per- 
fectly horizontal, the nose projecting, hasque, and slightly thick at. 
the extremity, but having delicately-shaped nostrils. They are fair,, 
but. more or less bronzed by the sun. Their black pilous system 
seems abundant.* 

TJie Tschinglianian Type. 

Does this type belong to the preceding % The terms Bohemians, 
Gitanos, Gipsies, Zingaris, Tschinghani are applied indiscriminately 
to one and the same nomadic population scattered over Europe and. 

* " Tableau des Eaces de I'lnde Centrale et de I'lnde Septentrionale," by 
M. L. Rousselet, in " Revue d'Anthrop.," vols. ii. and iv., 1873 and 1875. 



Chap. X.] IRANIAN TYPE. 457 

Asia, and having a language presenting the greatest analogy to the 
languages of Hindostan. Some say this people must have left, 
their native land at a very remote period ; E. von Miklosich says 
at an epoch when the modern dialects were already formed, ahout 
the year 1100. It prohahly descended from one of the numerous, 
wandering trihes that we see in India. Its type is undoubtedly 
Caucasian. The complexion of the Tschinghanians is more or less, 
tawny, the hair jet black, the eyes a rich black, the face long,, 
narrow across the cheek-bones, the forehead narrow and receding,, 
the nose moderately projecting, its bridge sharp, never flat, the 
space between the eyes rather narrow, slight prognathism, the 
mouth small, and the teeth white and not subject to caries (Bhimen- 
dacJi). They are on the confines of mesaticephales and sub-doli- 
chocephales, and are leptorrhinians. Their cerebral capacity is 
feeble. M. Kopernigki compared the Tschinghanian and Hindoo 
skulls, and found biit slight difference between them, though many 
points of resemblance. M. Abel Hovelacque recognises two types, 
the one refined, with the face more elongated and more oval, the 
features more compact, the nose more aquiline. The other coarse, 
with the features more closely set, the countenance more penetrating, 
eyes more sparkling. He considers that both may have been existing, 
from their point of departure in Hindostan.* 

TJie Iranian Ty]pe. 

The Iranian type is represented by the Tadjicks of Persia, the 
Parsees, the Armenians, the Kurds, the Georgians, the Ossetians, 
and the brown Affghans. Its highest expression is met with in the 
first of these. The Tadjicks are of medium height, with a long 
oval face and regular features. The forehead is broad and high, 
the eyes large and shaded with black eyebrows, the nose prominent 
and straight, or bent round, the mouth large, and the lips thin, the 
complexion fair and rosy, the pilous system over the whole body 
abundant, the hair straight and black, the beard and moustache also 
black, long, thick, and weU placed. Authors, with the exception 

* See " Revue d'Anthropologie," vol. ii. p. 161, and vol. iii. p. 234. 



458 CELTIC TYPE. [Chap. x. 

of Cliardin and Tavenier, agree in considering it a beautiful type. 
Tliey appear to "be dolichocephalic. "^ 



Tlie Celtic Tijioe. 

The Geltic type is thoroughly recognised by the universal testi- 
mony of ancient authors. The name Celts has been taken in four 
different acceptations, thus causing much confusion. Linguists 
understand by it the ancient peoples speaking the Celtic language, 




Fig. 44.— Celtic type : Skull of an Auvergnian, from the M^moire of M. Broca on tlie Celtic 
race. 

such as "we now find it in Ireland, in Cornwall, in Wales, in the 
Isle of Man, in Scotland, and in Brittany, but which was very widely 
diffused at one time, and was the first detached from the mother- 
stock of Asia. Archaeologists, on their side, caU by this name the 
dolmen builders during the Polished Stone epoch, and the importers 
of bronze into Europe. Both linguists and archaeologists think that 
the Celts form the first migration of the invaders from the East. 
A certain number of ancient historians again confound under this 
name all the peoples of Western and Central Europe, including those 
of the British isles among them, the GaUi, the Gaels, the Gauls, 

* "Ethnographie de la Perse," by M. de Khanikoff. In 4to. Paris, 1866. 



Chap. X.] CELTIC TYPE. 459 

the Galatians, the Kymris, the Belg^, the Cimbri, the Cimmerians, 
the Caledonians, the Firbolgs, the Bretons, &c. Lastly there is the 
precise geographical term, the only one to he preserved. " The 
title Celts," says Diodorus Siculus, " belongs to the peoples who 
inhabit the interior of the country above Marseilles." "Gaul," 
says Caesar, " is divided into three parts, one part being occupied by 
the Belgae, another by the Aquitanians, and a third by peoples who 
call themselves Celts." This last has been called Celtica by nearly 
all historians, and is a circumscribed territory included between the 
Seine, the Garonne, the sea, and the Alps. 

Of what elements was this population of Central Gaul composed 1 
In the first place, of the contemporaneous race of the Eough Stone 
period, very few in number, and of that coming afterwards, and 
which we find in the dolmens of La Lozere. Both are dolicho- 
cephalic, the latter less so than the former. La the second place, 
of the last invaders who had come from the East in sufficient 
number for their types in some places to become predominant. 
The Celts, thus understood, Avere different to the Gauls, who had 
become concentrated in the north, and better knoAvn to the 
Eomans on account of their turbulence. These were moreover the 
people who held firmly aloft the banner of national independence 
on the heights of Gergovia and Alesia, and it is there that its 
descendants must be looked for. Another consideration proves it, 
namely, that the language of the Celts is scarcely spoken anywhere 
at the present time in France, except in Brittany, under the name 
of Armorican, Bas-Breton, or Breyzad. *^The inhabitants of 
Celtica," says Strabo, " are distinguished from those of Aquitania 
by their language as well as by their physical characters." Anthro- 
pologically, therefore, there is some reason for considering the Bas- 
Bretons as Celts. The skull has really the same characters as that 
of the Auvergnians, and the living representatives of the type are 
similar, although somewhat modified by contact with the Gallo- 
Bretons, who consist, for the most part, of populations who came 
over from Great Britain about the fifth century ; and of natives of 
Belgium, who came over some centuries previously. We are in- 
debted to M. Broca for this information. The name Arverne 



460 CELTIC TYPE. [Chap, x, 

Vercingetmdx is Celtic. The type of the Auvergnians of the 
present day is that of the Bas-Bretons, though more pure, and may 
be looked upon as that of the people of Celtica at the time of 
Caesar and Straho.* 

The Auvergnians are less tall than the Belgse and other Gauls of 
the north ; their hair is brown or dark chestnut ; the eyes gray, 
greenish, or of a light shade. Their brachycephaly is on the 
average 84*07 in the series of St. JSTectaire studied by M. Broca. 
Their cranial capacity is considerably greater than that of Parisians. 
Their forehead is wide and full, although the anterior cranium is 
less developed relatively to the posterior than in Parisians ; the 
occiput, although well rounded, falls straight. The superciliary 
prominences are very much developed. The zygomatic arches, 
examined according to the norma of Blumenbach, are among the 
least prominent to be met with, hence in a great number there is a 
negative parietal angle. The face is large in proportion to the 
cranium, and they are leptorrhinian and orthognathous. In the 
' living subject the face appears decidedly flat and of rectangular 
shape, the cheek-bones are occasionally large and wide, the lower 
jaw square. The bridge of the nose is somewhat concave, and 
inclined to turn up, projects but little, and is as if buried in a 
depression in the middle of the face. Taking it as a whole, 
the head is large^ the neck being so narrow in proportion that 
the angles of the jaw project considerably beyond it. The Au- 
vergnians are robust, very muscular, their limbs being thick and 
short.t 

So in Prance we meet with — (1) In the north, a blonde type, 

* It is important to distinguisTi liere between tlie people and the cMefs. 
These latter conducted the expeditions to Delphos, to Eome, and into 
Galatia, and particularly excited the attention of the Eomans. These were 
the powerful and fair-complexioned Gauls, the latest arrivals in the country 
at the fifth century before our era, who bore the name of Belgse and 
Kymris. But below them there were the people over whom they had 
dominion, namely, the Celts proper. 

+ " La Eace Celtique Anoienne et iModerne : Arvernes et Armoricains, 
Auvergnats et Bas-Bretons," by P. Broca, " Eevue d'Anthrop.," vol. ii.> 
1873. 



€hap. X.] BEEBER TYPE. 461 

more particularly represented in Picardy, and extending itself 
into the Ardennes (Walloons) on the Belgian frontier, in Cham- 
pagne and Burgundy. The Gauls represented on the Eoman 
tomb of Jovian near the cathedral at Eheims are a good example 
of this type. (2) In the centre, the Celtic type above mentioned. 
(3) In the south, several types — a very brown and complex one, 
reminding us of the ancient Phocaean colony of Marseilles; another, 
•which is the Basque type; and a third, which has however its 
highest expression beyond our frontiers, perhaps about the Canary 
islands. Let us follow it from this side. 



Tlie Berher Type. 

The Berher type is scattered throughout the whole of the north 
of Africa, from the Gulf of Tripoli to the ocean, from the southern 
confines of the Sahara to the Mediterranean, and is there repre- 
sented by the Tawareks, the Kabyles, the Berbers, the M'zabites, 
and the Shulus. It extended at one time as far as the Canaries, 
under the name of Guancha. There is every reason to believe 
that it intrenched upon Southern Europe, and that the oldest stock 
of the Iberian peninsula, the basin of the Garonne, and the islands 
of the Mediterranean is Berber. The stature of this type is 
above the average. He is well-proportioned, but less shrivelled, 
more muscular, and less shapely than the Arab. His skin is fair 
in childhood, and readily bronzes on exposure to the air. His 
hair is black and straight, and tolerably abundant. His eyes 
are dark brown. He is dolichocephalic (74*4°), leptorrhinian, 
thoiigh not excessively so (44*3), and moderately orthognathous 
(81 'S). His face is less long, and its oval outline less regular 
than that of the Arab. His forehead is straight, and has at 
its base a transverse depression. The superciliary ridges are 
moderately developed. The nose, deeply sunk in at the root, is 
frequently trusque without being aquiline, sometimes oblique 
in front and turned up at the base, so as to allow the nostrils 
to be plainly seen. The ears are set out from the head. His 
moral characters are a strong feeling of equality, of benevolence, 



462 



SEMITIC TYPE. 



[Chap. x. 



of his own dignity, and of Ms individual freedom ; a great want 
of activity, love of work, economy, fondness for his home. He 
is a Mussulman by accident. 

The Moors are the result of complex crossing between the 




Fig. 45.— Berber type : A Kabyl of the Djurjura (collection of Colonel Duhousset). 

Berber and every sort of ethnic element in which the Arab 
predominates. One of their characters is a tendency to obesity. 



The Semitic Type. 

The Semitic type is one of the most wide-spread, by a process 
of infiltration as it were. The ancient Assyrians, Syrians, Phoeni- 



Chap. X.] AEABIAN TYPE. 463 

cians, and Carthaginians, and the modern Arahs and Jews are 
ranged nnder it. The language is polysyllabic, with a power 
of inflection without relation either as to vocabulary or grammar 
with the Aryan languages, its principal ethnic connection being 
that of form. Eawlinson, in the following terms, describes the 
type represented on the Assyrian monuments : " The forehead 
straight but not high, the full brow, the eye large and almond- 
shaped, the aquiline nose, a little coarse at the end and unduly 
depressed, the strong firm mouth with lips somewhat over thick, 
the well-formed chin, the abimdant hair and ample beard, both 
coloured and black, all these recall the chief peculiarities of the 
Jew, more especially as he appears in southern countries." The 
moral traits of the Semite are equally characteristic — a marvellous 
activity, as exemplified on the sea by the Phoenicians, and on 
land by the Israelites ; the love of gain, which engenders the 
commercial spirit ; a disturbed nomadic life, among the H(?brews, 
from the taking of Jericho to the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
which is still kept up, though modified by the necessities of social 
life, egotism of sect, attachment to old institutions, the want of a 
God peculiarly and nationally their own, of which this proverb 
is the echo — Out of the Church, no salvation — Hors VEglise, 
! sdlut. 



The Arabian Type. 

The Arabian type will serve as an example of the modern 
Semite. The Arabs made their appearance in the night of time^ 
under the name of Ariba, and more especially of Adites. The 
Koran mentions their Cyclopean buildings in Arabia. Later on, 
they form two great families, Jectanides in the Yemen, and the 
Ismaelites in the north of the peninsula. In 622 of the Hegira 
of Mahomet their nationality is planned out, they commence a 
movement, and either by conquest, or infiltration from time to 
time, they at last spread over the greater part of Africa, and half, 
at least, of Asia. They are now to be met with, in greater pr less 
number, from Egypt to Morocco, especially in Algeria, where they 



464 AEABIAN TYPE. * [Chap. x. 

are diminisMng, from Abyssinia to the Fellatali country, from the 
Gulf of Aden to Kaffraria, even beyond Lake Tanganyka, where 
they were before Livingstone; from the Mediterranean and the 
Eed Sea to the Bolor Mountains on the one side, to the mouths of 
the Ganges and Cambodia on the other. With the exception of 
Malaisia and Madagascar, they have always kept to countries 
bordering on the tropics. Even in Spain they have left traces of 
their lineage. In the south-east of France some vestiges of them 
are described under the name of Saracens. The- Arabian type is 
one of the finest in the world, says Larrey. The skull, seen from 
above, describes a perfectly regular oval. The face, which is long 
and thin, forms another oval, with a no less regular outline. The 
complexion continues perfectly fair as long as it is not exposed to 
the action of the air, but becomes bronzed very quickly. The hair 
and beard are glossy and jet black, the limits of their implantation 
being very defined. The eyes are black. The palpebral apertures 
almond-shaped, and fringed with long black eyelashes. The fore- 
head is not very high, the curved nose and receding chin, however, 
give to the profile rather a round than straight form. The super- 
ciliary arches, as well as the glabella, are only slightly developed. 
The root of the nose is somewhat sunk in, so that the forehead and 
the bridge of the nose are almost in a direct line. The nose is 
aquiline, and the point is separated from the alae, and descends 
below them, curving down like the eagle's beak. The cheek-bones 
do not project, the mouth is small, the teeth are white and vertical, 
the ears are well shaped, rather small, and close to the head. The 
stature is slightly below the average in Arabia, and a little above it 
in Algeria. The Arab is shrivelled and nervous, his neck is well 
placed upon the shoulders. He is dolichocephalic (76*3 on the 
living subject, 74*0 on the skull). Moderately leptorrhinian (45 -5), 
and the orbital index mesosemic (88-6). There exists however a 
type slightly differing from the preceding, and which we may term 
coarse. The skin is less smooth, the nose thicker, its extremity 
being in a round mass and somewhat depressed, as Eawlinson says. 
The general shape of the body is rather lumbering. "Were not 
this the description of the ancient Assyrians we might suppose 



Chap. XI.] FINNISH TYPE. 465 

that this was a cross-breed. One of the results of crossing with the 
Arab is the tendency to corpulence. 

The moral traits of the Arab are those of the Semite in general, 
modified by an enervating and fatalist religion.* 

Our object not being to give a description of every type, but 
simply to give a few examples of each, we shall omit the Jewish 
type, which is well known, as well as the Etruscan and Albanian 
types, respecting which we have but little information, and pass on 
rapidly to another group. 



CHAPTER XL 

FINNISH AND LAPP TYPES — MONGOLIAN, ESQUIMAU, AND SAMOYED 

TYPES MALAY AND POLYNESIAN TYPES AMEEICAN AND PATA- 

GONIAN TYPES EED-AFEICAN TYPE. 

Tlie Finnish Tyj^e. 

The Finnish type forms, as it were, the connecting link between 
the blonde types of Europe and the brachycephalic types of Asia. 
It extends from Lapland and the country of the Samoyedes, from 
the confines of SAveden and the Baltic to the river Yenissei, from 
the White Sea to the middle course of the Volga, as far as the 
53rd degree of north latitude. It includes the Ostiaks of the Obi, 
the Tchuvatches, the Tcheremisses, the Morduins, the Yotiaks, and 
Permians of Central Russia, and the Finlanders, Esthonians, and 
Livonians of the Ealtic. The Eins have long hair, usually 
reddish or yellowish, of a flaxen or whitish hue, and more rarely 
chestnut. The Einlanders, the Tcheremisses, the Tchuvatches, the 
Ostiaks of the Obi, and especially the Yotiaks, have red hair. 
The fiery red colour is not as frequent among other people as 
these last {Rilhs). Their beard is moderately full, and is generally 

* For the parallel between tlie Arab and the Berber, see " Anthropologle 
de r Algerie," by General Faidlierbe and Dr. P. Topinard. Paris, 1874. 

2h 



466 FINNISH TYPE. [Char xi. 

red. The eyebrows are thick, the eyes sunken, of a blue, greenish 
gray, or chestnut shade. The palpebral aperture is narrow. Their 
complexion is fair and usually covered with freckles. The nose is 
straight, the nostrils small. The cheek-bones are prominent, 
owing to the thinness of the face, the lips small. The teeth 
rapidly wear away; the chin is round, the ears are high, broad, 
and flat. In eight individuals measured by Dr. Beddoe the 
cephalic index was 8*37. The craniology of the Finnish type has 
only been studied on a few specimens. Five skulls of Finlanders, 
measured by M. Broca, had an average index of 83 "7; and those of 
four Esthonians an index of 80*4. .Their mesorrhinia and their sub- 
nasal prognathism approximate them to the yellow races. It would 
be interesting to know if their orbital index is megasemic as in these. 
The stature of the Fins is below the average,"^' and consequently 
higher than that of the Lapps. Their neck is small, the chest narrow 
and flat, the arms long, the hands broad, the pelvis broad in propor- 
tion to the trunk, the legs short, slim, and tapering, the feet flat. 

The Fins are of simple manners, of sedentary habits, and of 
spiteful disposition. They are a hunting and fishing people. 
They have a national poem, the Kalevala, fragments of which have 
been transmitted orally from generation to generation. Their name 
appeared in history about the first century before and the second 
after our era {Pliny, Jornandes). 

The Finnish type is clearly separated from all the surrounding 
types, and without being European, it is more nearly allied to it 
than to the Mongolian type. It is this which partly gives to the 
Russians of the north their physical characters. When we see in 
the blonde type fiery-red coloured hair, with freckles, we may fairly 
attribute them to this fact. It would not be surprising if we were 
so to regard similar cases of this kind observed both in England and 
France. Moreover, there has hitherto been no proof that the 
Finnish type really existed in Western Europe, but it is probable 
that a certain number of Fins were among the invaders who laid it 
waste. ;N"either in the description of Attila by Priscus nor in that 

* Six litmdred and eighty-two Fin soldiers, however, measured by Bons- 
dorff, had an average stature of 1'714 metre (?). 



Chap, xi.] FINNISH TYPE. 467 

of tlie Huns can their type be recognised ; and yet "bands of Fins, 
without a doubt, accompanied that warrior.^ 

Among the Fins, nevertheless, exceptional characters are to 
be found — as low stature, black hair and eyes, flat nose, high 
cheek-bones, &c., which must be attributed to crossing with the 
Lapps, and more frequently with the Mongolians. The Morduins 
in particular, the least pure of the tribes mentioned, have a con- 
siderable mixture of Mongolian blood in them. The Voguls, who 
speak a Finnish language, have the same ; Pallas says they 
resemble the Kalmuks. 

The Hungarians, or Magyars, are changed in another sense by 
their mixture with Turks, Khazars, Bulgarians, and Eoumanians. 
Historians make them to be descended from the Ostiaks, or rather 
to have come from a country beyond the Ural mountains, called 
Ugria. Linguists speak of them as having a Finnish language, and 
ethnologists take note of certain of their ethnic traits, which 
recall their tent life and their skill in the saddle. At the present 
day, among the upper classes, they form one of the most beautiful 
types in Europe. Of a stature below the average, they have 
regular features, a coarse {cipre) or fair complexion, black hair and 
eyes, a full and dark beard. The slight obKquity of the eyes, and 
rather high cheek-bones among some of them, remind one, not of the 
Finnish type, but of a Mongolian influence. The ancient Hungarian 
type is only met with among the lower classes. 

With this Finnish question is connected that of certain mysterious 
tribes of ancient Asia. To the west of the Hiong-nu^t whose 
incessant incursions, from the second century before our era to 
the second century afterwards^ compelled the Chinese to build the 
Oreat Wall, there existed, says Matuanlin, the Chinese historian, 
another tall people, with green eyes and red hair, who from being 
Tinder subjection to the Hiong-nu became independent, namely, the 

* See " Des Tribus Mongoles," by Pallas, in " Mem. du Museum d'Histoire 
Naturelle," vol. xvii. ; and " Voyages dans I'Empire de Eussie," by the same 
author ; translated into French by G. de la Peyronie, Paris, 1788-95. 

t Hiong-nu, Hiong-nou, Hiung-nu, Hioung-nou, or Heung-noo. M. Maury 
also writes Chiong-nou. 

2h 2 



468 FINNISH TYPE. [Chap. xi. 

Ou-siouii. Another people, the Ting-ling, with green eyes and 
red hair, is mentioned at the same epoch, as existing heyond the 
Altai mountains, in the countries of the Yenissei. A third inha- 
bited — from 648 to 874 — ^the north of the Chinese Empire, near the 
Obi or the Irtish, namely, the Kiekars, the issue of the Kiang- 
kuans, or Kakas of Klaproth. They were tall, and also had red 
hair, fair complexion, and green eyes; "black hair was looked upon 
as a prodigy." Lastly, contemporaneously with Matuanlin, that is 
to say about the twelfth century, barbarous tribes presenting these 
characters occupied the same regions. He considered them to be 
the descendants of the Kiang-kuans. 

The existence, formerly, in the centre and in the north of Asia 
of a race with green eyes and red hair is therefore established. 
But whence did it come 1 That all the populations of the region 
at the present time have black hair and eyes, and that the 
Samoyedes, to whom one would imagine they might belong, are 
in this category, and are of short stature, with a smoky-yellow 
complexion, is a fact well worthy of our attention. 

Desmoulins professed to have found it in the Baskirs, many of 
whom have red hair ; in the Kirghis ; in the Yakoutas ; in a word, 
in the whole Turkish race. But red hair and green eyes are 
altogether exceptional in these different groups, which are dis- 
tinguished, on the contrary, by their black hair and eyes.* 

Another solution to the question presents itself. The funda- 
mental traits indicated, Avith the exception of the stature, are those 
of the great majority of the Fins. Green eyes are less common, it 
is true, among these than blue eyes, but we may consider that a 
change has taken place in them by crossing. Our own opinion 
is that the peoples of ancient Asia, with green eyes and red hair, 
ought to be looked upon as the progenitors of the Ostiaks; 
Tchuvatches, &c.t 

We have just spoken of the Turks ; it is necessary to say a few 

* See "Histoire Naturelle des Eaces Humaines," by A. Desmoulins. 
Paris, 1826. 

t A translation of the annals of the Hiong-nn was published last year in 
the " Journal of the Anthrop. Institute," with annotations from " Doolittle's 



Chap, xi.] TUEKS. 469 

words further respecting tliem. They have been also designated 
hj the name of Turanians, under the supposition that Turan, 
whose struggles with Iran are mentioned by the Zend-Avesta, was 
occupied by populations having this origin. Linguists make them 
enter into their Tatar branch of the Uralo- Altaic family, whose 
other branches are the Samoyedan, the Finnish, the Mongolian, 
and the Tungusian. In the same branch the^^ range the Yakuts, 
tlie Kirghis, divided into Bouroutes and Kaisaks, the Turcomans, 
the Uzbeks, the ^N'ogays, the Osmanlis, or Turks proper, &c. 

The descent of the Turks has been fully established by Klap- 
roth. The name is derived from the Thu-kin, who inhabited the 
Altai about the sixth century, not far from the famous tribe of the 
Ouigours, both being descendants of the Hiong-nu, at the time 
of their dispersion in 263 of our era. In 1034, one of their 
bands, the Ghazneoides, broke through into Western Turkestan. 
At the close of the eleventh century they were before Constanti- 
nople. An important group under the name of White Huns had 
made the conquest of India, and are the ancestors of the present 
Jahts.^ The Yakuts, now between the Yenessei and the Obi, were 
then more to the south, and were separated from the principal 
mass at the time of the dismemberment of the empire of Gengis- 
Khan. The Kirghis and the Uzbeks are looked upon as the more 
or less changed remnants of the Ouigours, whose language the 
Bouroutes still speak. The actual existence of a particular group 
designated by the name of Turks, and in subjection to that portion 
of the Mongolian race to which has been given that of Turanians, 
is therefore certain. But are there any remains of them, and what 
is their type 1 The Tchuvatches of whom we thought, speak a 
Tatar language, but as regards physique they are Fins. The 
Yakuts are absolutely Tungooses ; the Turcomans, the Uzbeks, and 

Vocabulary and Handbook." The tall people to tbe west of the Hiong-nou 
bear the name of Woo-sun, and have the same complexion as the Ting, 
ling. We find there, also, the Keeii-kwan, whose ancestors, in the year 
200 B.C., were the Hakkas. 

* The White Huns, or Ephthahtes of M. Yivien, of St. Martin, must not 
be confounded with the Huns of Attila, who are true Mongolians. 



470 LAPP TYPE. [Chap. xi. 

the Kirghis are also Mongolians in various degrees. The Osmanlis 
have so crossed with the Circassians and the Greeks that they have 
become Europeans. The Tatars of Kashan and of the Crimea are- 
intermediate as regards their physiognomy. To sum up : a primi- 
tive Turk must have existed, hut it is impossible to determine at 
what period. It is probable that it approximated to the Mongolian 
type. 

The Lapp Tyjje. 

The Lctjyp type is well known, but its parentage is not so. It is 
confined to the parts of ]N"orway, Sweden, and Eussia which 
border upon the North Cape, and formerly went down more to the 
south, from whence it has been expelled by the Eins. Linnseus 
describes it in these terms : Lcqjpones corpore parvo ; capillis 
nigris, hrevibus, redis ; occuloi'um iy^dihus nigrescentihus ; and thus 
speaks of the Eins as compared with them : Fennoiies corpore 
toroso ; capillis fiavis, prolixis ; occulorum iridilms fuscis. The 
Lapps are very short of stature, and ill-looking. The head is 
thick, the chest broad, the figure slim, the legs short and slender. 
The forehead is broad and low, as well as the face. They have 
large brown holloAv eyes ; the nose is short and flat, and very wide 
at the root. The hair is hard, short, and of black colour, and they 
have but little beard. The complexion is pale, according to some, 
yellowish-brown according to others. The cheek-bones are promi- 
nent, the chin pointed. The eyelids are oblique, according to 
M. Vanderkindere. Their cephalic index is 85, the highest 
average brachycephaly yet observed. They are less mesorrhinian 
and less prognathous than the Eins. Their characters, in short, 
separate them from the latter race, and bring them nearer to the 
Samoyed races. Their mesosemic orbital index, however (87 "5), 
is not that of the yellow races. Eeduced in number to 9000 
{Gruillard), they have continued the only nomadic European race. 
The reindeer occupies the whole of their time and attention.* We 

* See "Lapons," by L^on Guillard aM Bertillon, in " Encycl. des Sciences 
Med., 2nd series, vol. i. ; " Parallele des Lapons et des Esquimaux," by 
H. Guerault, in " Mem. Soc. Anthrop.," vol. i. ; " On the Laplanders," by 
P. Campbell, in " Trans. Soc. EthnoL," 1866 j &c. 



Chap. XL] MONGOLIAN TYPE. 471 

might here be tempted to describe the Samoyed type, but as it is 
clearly Mongolian, we shall hold it in reserve to speak of it in its 
proper place. 

The Mongolian Type. 

The Mongolian type corresponds to that of the yellow races in 
general. Its name is derived from a small tribe to the north of the 
desert of Gobi, near the Kara-kara mountains, so sadly celebrated 
by Gengis-Khan at the commencement of the thirteenth century. 
It has not been shown that the traits of this horde, now designated 
by the name of Mongol-Kalkas, best exhibit those of the Asiatic 
races scattered to the east of the Obi, the Caspian Sea, and the Bay 
of Bengal ; but custom, whether rightly or wrongly, has adopted 
the name. The general characters of the type are the following : 
The skin is of a pale yellowish colour, more or less tawny, not 
mixed either with red or brown. The hair is straight, stiff, some- 
what long and black, its transverse section being more or less 
round and large. The beard is scanty as well as the whiskers, and 
the hair on the upper lip consists of two delicate pencils, which are 
sometimes long. The body is more or less bare. The head is 
thick, sometimes high, sometimes short, its cranial capacity being 
between that of the negro and that of the European. Its summit 
is sometimes flat, sometimes raised into a crest antero-posteriorly, 
corresponding to the sagittal suture. The superciliary arches and 
the glabella are very slightly marked, the interval between the 
orbits is considerable. The face on the whole is flat, as if crushed 
in everywhere, and broader about the situation of the cheek-bones, 
the external and anterior borders of which look upwards and out- 
wards. We shall not reiterate the description of the Mongolian 
skull, as given by Prichard, nor that of Blumenbach, respecting the 
prominence of the zygomatic arches, and shall confine ourselves to 
stating that the characters designated some years ago by the name 
of Mongoloid, upon which a doctrine now settled was based, are 
only met with exceptionally. The parietal aAgie in particular is 
one half less in Mongols than in ]N'ew Caledonians. (See 
pages 246, 247.) 



472 MONGOLIAN TYPE. [Chap. xi. 

The following traits liave more value : Flatness of the skeleton 
of the nose in its ensemble, flattening and widening of the interval 
between the orbits, mesorrhinia^ obliteration of the inferior border 
of the anterior nasal aperture, its folding over into two lips : by 
this mark alone we were able to recognise the upper jaw of a Chinese 
skull. In the living subject, the nose is broad and flat {cixiU), 
concave, round at the back, and very similar to that of the negro 
in the disposition of the nostrils and the slight consistence of the 
cartilages of the base ; but it is small and generally delicate, while 
that of the negro is thick. Another series of characters is derived 
from the eyes. The axis of the eyelids is directed obliquely up- 
wards and outwards. At the internal angle is a vertical falciform 
fold, at the external, a sort of transverse duplication of the upper 
eyelid, which slightly covers the* eye, and appears to be due to the 
small size of the palpebral aperture ; the eyes with their black 
irides thus appear smaller. The orbits give indication of this ; in 
other types their great axes are united at an obtuse angle, open 
below. In many of the Mongols there is scarcely any angle, or 
rather the axes are perfectly horizontal (see page 355). 

M. Broca has demonstrated quite unexpectedly that one of 
the least variable attributes, not only of the most typical Mon- 
golian races, but also of all those, with the exception of the 
Esquimaux, that we usually associate with them, is megasemia of the 
orbital index, and in the Chinese it is 93-8 (see page 259). 

The yellow races are generally very prognathous (76 to 68 degrees). 
The Esquimaux, the Chinese, and the Malays are more than this, 
and approximate to the negro type. True Mongols and other 
Western tribes, and undoubtedly also the Thibetans, are much less 
so. Their stature is below the average, their neck is short, their 
limbs are short and thick, and they have a tendency to corpulence. 
The ability to bring the toes together in such a way as to take hold 
of objects is somewhat common among them. 

Of the three fundamental types, the European, the JSTegro, and 
the Mongolian, the last exhibits the least homogeneity as regards 
details. Asia, of all parts of the world, must have been the most 
violently convulsed as regards its populations. Its prehistoric 



Chap, xi.] ESQUIMAU TYPE. 473 

revolutions previously to its having any geograpMcal communication 
mth Europe must have been very numerous. Tlie hordes which 
have come forth from it, as from a crater, have all been nomads 
and warlike. We find numerous evidences at the present time 
of these convulsions : foreign races absolutely dissimilar as to type 
enclosed in the midst of surrounding average types. Instead of 
the flat nose, looked upon as characteristic of the yellow races, is 
frequently seen a prominent nose, of firm construction and arched. 
The oblique and small eye is found replaced by a horizontal eye 
like our own, the almost invisible superciliary arches by prominent 
ones, the scant and paltry pencil of hair on the upper lip, by a thick 
bushy moustache. There is frequently no prognathism at all, the 
face becoming almost receding, while the head of the Kalmuck of 
the Altai, or the Mongol of Gobi, is a combination of the two 
characters of which we have been speaking with an external 
brachycephaly, and a no less remarkable shortness of all the vertical 
diameters of the cranium as Avell as of the face. The head of the 
Esquimaux, with the same characters, is the most dolichocephalic 
in the world, and has the greatest vertical diameters of the cranium 
as well as of the face. These are two sub-types which are con- 
tradictory in some respects.. In describing the foregoing under the 
name of Mongolian we had the former rather in mind — brachy- 
cephaly ; we lay more stress now on the latter — doHchocephaly. 
Prichard, moreover, considered the face of the Esquimau as the 
best expression of the type of the yellow races. 



The Esquimau Type. 

The Esquimau type is found in its highest expression in Green- 
land. DoHchocephaly and extreme height of the skull become less 
as we approach Behring's Straits. The Aleutians and Kolushes 
would form the passage between it and the Samoyed or Mongolian 
type. The Esquimaux have received this name from the Mohicans 
(Seeman)j and call themselves Innuit. About the twelfth century 
they may have reached the Potomac and the Delaware; at the 
fourteenth they penetrated into Greenland. Previously we find 



474 



ESQUIMAU TYPE. 



[Chap, xi. 



them in Asia. They are now rapidly decreasing in numbers {Hall, 
Hayes). 

They are of low stature, fat, squat, mth wide shoulders and 
large heads, large limbs, but with small well-made feet and hands. 
The face is flat, and even hollowed out about the region of the 
nose; the cheeks are full, the cheek-bones extremely prominent; 
the nose is broad, small, and projecting but little ; the palpebral 
aperture small, the eyes black and sunken; the mouth small, 
round, with a large under lip. The teeth are regular, and are worn 
down to the gums at an early age, owing to the custom of employ- 




FiG. 46.— Esquimau type : Skull of Greenlander (Copenliagen Museum). 

ing them in preparing skins. The hair is jet black, long, hard, and 
scanty, and on a transverse section is more round than elliptical. 
The beard is almost absent. " On the upper lip of one," says 
Hayes, " some coarse black hairs were growing like the whiskers of 
a cat, and also on the chin." The complexion is light, or dark- 
gray, showing the redness of the capillary vessels beneath. The 
skull of the Esquimau, which is a pure dolichocephalic,- gives an 
index of 71 "4 (Broca), 71*8 {Vircliow), 71*3 {Bessels). It forms a 
long parallelogram, the sides of which fall down vertically, and in 
some skulls the sagittal crest is so marked that they seem, physio- 
logically, scaphocephalic. They are the most leptorrhinian known 



Chap. XI.] SAMOYED TYPE. 475 

(42*2). Tlieir prognatliism (71*4) corresponds to the average 
degree observed in all tlie yellow races. The direction of the 
occipital plane very nearly approaches that of the Chinese. The 
bones of the nose j)roj)er are the narrowest knoAvn, the orbits are 
round, the maxillary bones are so enormous, and the molar bones 
so large and thick, that, out of a number of skulls, we are able to 
identify the Esquimau skull without hesitation.* 

The nomad character of the Esquimaux in summer allies them tO' 
the Lapps and Samoyedes, from which they are separated by their 



TJiG Samoyed Type. 

The Samoyed type is scattered from the Mezen, an affluent of 
the White 8ea,^ to the river Khatanga in Siberia, and from the 
Arctic Ocean to the vicinity of the Altai and Lake Baikal. The 
Khasovo in the north^ and the Soiony in the south, are its^ 
principal groups in Asia. Between them there are a number of 
Einnish or Mongolian tribes. The Samoyedes make their appear- 
ance in history in 1096. The following description specially 
applies to those of the north-west, who are the best known :. 
Their stature is below the average, if not diminutive, but greater 
than that of the Laj)ps. They are fat, squat, with short legs, the 
knees turning out ; the feet are small. Their hair is long, harsh, 
jet black and glossy. They have very little beard. Their com- 
plexion is of a smoky-yellow tint. The face is wide and fiat ; 
the cheek-bones are prominent. , The nose is very depressed, and 
on a level with the cheeks ; it is broad and flat at the root ; the 
nostrils are wide and gaping. They have black eyes, long, narrow, 
and slightly oblique palpebral apertures, large mouths, the lips 
being small and turned up {retroussees).f 

* See " On the Esquimaux," by King, first memoir in the "Journal of the 
Ethnological Society," London, vol. i., 1848 ; " On the Esquimaux," by 
Sutherland, in " Journal of the Anthropological Society," London, vol. iii., 
1865 ; &c. 

t See Latham's drawing of the Samoyed in his general treatise on 
Ethnography. 



476 MALAY TYPE. [Chap. xi. 

A drawing of the skull of a Samoyed lias been given by 
Blumenbach, and the description of one by Mr. Busk. The bones 
are narrow in the former; the latter is brachycephalic (86 'S)"^ 
and platyrrhinian : the inferior border of the malar bones and 
zygomatic arches turns outwards, there is a slight crest at the 
vault of the cranium, the orbital axes are almost horizontal, the 
vertical diameter of the cranium is short and that of the face long. 
It evidently follows from this that the Samoyed sub-type assimi- 
lates the general Mongolian type proper, and that it comes very 
near to the Esquimau sub-type. In its norma veHicalis it recalls 
the Lapp tribe. From want of space we must 'pass over the 
Tungusian type, to which the Mantshu belongs, and which differs 
in some respects from the Mongolian sub -type proper ; the various 
types in Japan, with which the Corean is allied ; the Kamtchadale, 
but imperfectly known ; the Thibetan, to which the Chinese, 
the Birmese, and the Annamites are allied, and which establish 
the transition between the Mongol and the Malay. The Ainos 
of Japan, the Miau Tsz and the Lolos of the province of Yunnan, 
in our opinion belong to the European group. 

TliG Malay Type. 

The Malay type embraces the whole of the territory called 
Malaisia. 

According to M. Maury, the cradle of the Malays was the 
mountains of Thibet, whence they passed by the rivers of Indo- 
China. (3thers make them come from Borneo. Mention of them 
is made for the first time in 1160, from which it appears that 
they left the Palembang country in the island of Sumatra, and 
were the founders of Singapore in the peninsula of Malacca. 
Their skin is light brown, sometimes copper coloured. The hair 
is straight or wavy, standing on end when cut about two inches 
from the head, long, abundant, and jet black. They have very 

* Many dolichocephalic skulls have been collected in the Samoyed 
territory, but they may belong to other races. If the Esquimaux, so doli- 
chocephalic, have occupied, as it is said, the southern confines of Siberia 
they must necessarily have left a train of dolichocephales behind them. 



Chap, xi.] MALAY TYPE. 477 

little beard. The nose is sliort, wide, and flat, thin at the 
extremity, the nostrils being dilated. They are mesorrhinians 
(51*4:7), and have an arrangement of the lower border of the nasal 
aperture and of the vomer which is almost characteristic. The 
cheek-bones are wide and prominent, and the face is almost as 
broad as it is long (Van Leent). The profile is straight, the 
interval between the orbits wide and flattened, the superciliary 
arches united, and almost imperceptible. 

The forehead, says Pickering, is depressed and receding in the 
Mongols, high and well formed in the Malay. The occiput, on the 
contrary, is flat, vertical, and does not pass beyond the line of the 
neck. The mouth is large, the lips are thick, and their prognathism 
is the greatest that has been met with in the yellow races (69 '5). 
The teeth are of a bluish-black colour, and corroded from chewing 
betel, of which they make constant use. They are brachycephalic. 
In twenty-nine Javanese examined by M. Broca, the mean index 
was 81 '6. Lastly, they are very short of stature^ slim, and 
moderately muscular. 

M. Van Leent speaks of two sorts of Malays, some similar to 
the yellow races we have described, others being a mixture of 
Caucasian features. The Battaks of Sumatra, from whom this 
sub-race is named, the Macassars and Bugis of Celebes, the Dyaks 
of Borneo, &c., are among the latter. The Battaks are better 
built, more muscular, and taller than the Malays previously spoken 
of. Their skin is of a lighter brown, the hair fine and black, some- 
times chestnut, the beard moderately thick, the nose straight, 
rather thin, less flat. The cheek-bones are less prominent, the face 
long, the mouth somewhat small, the lips less thick, the occiput 
round. It would be interesting to know whether this j^articular 
type corresponded with those dolichocephalic skulls which we find 
labelled in our collections under the same name as the Malays 
before spoken of. It would also be desirable to find out whether 
it is not derived from India.''' 

* See " The Malay Archipelago," by A. E. Wallace, 2 vols., London, 1859 ; 
" Geographie Medicale des Possessions Neerlandaises des Indes Orientales," 
by Van Leent, in *' Arch. Med. Nav.," Paris, 1847, &c. 



478 POLYNESIAN TYPE. [Chap. xi. 



Polynesian Type. 

The Polynesian type approaches the Malay, and must be sepa- 
rated from the Micronesian type. It extends from the Tonga 
Islands and 'Ee,w Zealand to Easter Island in the Pacific. The 
Kanaka or Polynesian race originated, according to M. de Quatre- 
fages, in the island of Booroo, situated to the west of Ceram, one 
of the Moluccas. Its first station was ^ the Tonga and Samoan 
Archipelago, whence it was dispersed. It made its appearance at 
the beginning of the fifth century in the Marquesas Islands — in 
1100 at Tahiti, in 1200 at Earotonga, in 1500 in :s^ew Zealand, 
and in 1700 in the Chatham Islands. Its first known migrations 
took place therefore into Malaisia a thousand years before any 
mention is made there of the Malays. The two races are looked 
upon as one by linguists^ who speak of them as the Malayo- 
Polynesians. Moreover there is much reason for believing that the 
South Americans have some relation to the Polynesians. 

The Polynesian should be studied in the Eastern Islands, where 
he is more detached from the Melanesian element. He is mesati- 
cephalic. The norma verticalis of the skull exhibits an oval, 
swelling out on a level with the parietal bosses. The vault is 
generally occupied by a crest, the two sides of which incline like 
the roof of a house, or are hollowed out in wide channels, after 
which come the parietal protuberances ; this latter arrangement is 
termed keel-shaped (en carene). His megasemic orbits place him 
in the same group as the Chinese, the Malays, and Americans. The 
Kanakas of the Owhyhee Islands have the highest orbital index that 
M. Broca has observed (95 '4). He is mesorrhinian (49*3). His 
sub-nasal prognathism of 68 degrees in J^ew Zealand, 70*9 in the 
Marquesas Islands, and 75 at Tahiti, is evidence of the influence 
of the yellow and black populations with which he has been mingled. 
But as these crosses would only increase his prognathism, and as we 
cannot find any neighbouring race which could cause it to diminish, 
we must come to the conclusion that the principle of this diminution 
is to be found within himself. The primitive Polynesian, therefore, 



€hap. XI.] AMERICAN TYPE. 479 

was not prognathous ; at least the accepted minimum index of 75 
places him on the confines of the White type. 

The nose of the Polynesian, called by some travellers short, and 
hj others projecting, is sometimes straight, sometimes aquiline, and 
more nearly approaches the American than the Mongolian type ; it 
is wide only at the nostrils. The malar bones are large, not very 
wide, and the face is oval, not coming within the category of those 
decidedly flat. The superciliary arches project but little, and the 
falling in of the root of the nose is not very deep, which clearly 
distinguishes him from the Melanesian type. The eyes are black, 
large, and well formed, more or less full, and not oblique. The 
complexion is very variable. According to some it is of mahogany 
colour, of others of a dull copper colour. M. Bourgarel ssijs, it is of 
a yellowish-olive hue, lighter sometimes than that of the Malays, 
especially at Tahiti. Jacquinot says it is generally tawny-yellow, 
mixed with more or less dark bistre. The hair is black, thick, and 
harsh occasionally, becoming beautifully curly by crossing with the 
European. The beard of the Polynesian is scant. He is of tall 
stature, well built, slight, but with some tendency to obesit}^ 



TJie Arnerican Type. 

The American type is that which was most commonly met with 
both in ]!^orth and South America previously to the arrival of 
Europeans, the Esquimaux being put aside. "We shall describe it 
according to the best authors, especially Morton. The average 
colour of the skin is olive-brown, variously mixed with white and 
red, and sometimes amounting to a cinnamon colour {Nott). The 
hair is long, glossy, black, and stiff like horsehair. The eyebrows 
and eyelashes are thick, but the hair in the beard, the moustaches, 
and on the surface of the body is scant. The eyes are small and 
sunken, and the eyelids exhibit all the varieties observed in Asia, 
being sometimes contracted and oblique, at others horizontal as with 
us. The superciliary arches are more developed than in the 
Mongolian type. The nose, sometimes Asiatic, is more frequently 
large, prominent, bridged, and even aquiline (Catlin). The nostrils 



480 AMEBICAN TYPE. [Chap. xi. 

are dilated. The cheek-bones are prominent, the face is round or 
triangular, the jaws are heavy and slightly prognathous (Nott).. 
The mouth is large, and the teeth are vertical, strong, and but little 
liable to caries. If we are to rely on the method of cubic measure- 
ment, followed by Morton, the American skull is one of the least 
capacious of the whole human race. It is more frequently dolicho- 
cephalic than brachy cephalic, judging from the collection at 
Philadelphia. That at the Museum, on the contrary, is mesati- 
cephalic, being caused by the mixture of brachycephaly and 
dolichocephaly in equal proportions. The Mexicans have an index 
of 78'1, the Peruvians of 78"7 (Bi'oca). Dolichocephaly is more 
extensive in the north, according to Morton, among the tribes that 
originally inhabited the east of the AUeghanies, and brachycephaly 
among those to the west of the Mississippi. The same thing 
occurs on the coasts of South America. The Peruvian skulls are 
distinguished by their quadrangular form. 

A common characteristic of the Mexican populations is flattening 
of the posterior part of the skull which is vertical. The vertex is 
often pyramidal, especially when looked at from behind. The 
forehead is moderately broad, but low and receding, upon which 
Humboldt laid some stress. The orbits are quadrangular and 
megasemic, which is an important fact. The skeleton of the nose 
is mesorrhinian. Their stature is generally very much above the 
average of Americans, although there are some tribes in South 
America, as the Patagonians of the south, and the Assiniboins in 
the north, who are very tall, and others, as the Peruvians and 
some tribes in the island of Vancouver, that are rather short, 
proving the existence of divers elements in the American type.* 

To sum up : the American in his ensemUe approximates to the 
type of the Yellow races in many important particulars. Thus : 
his face and nose are sometimes flat, the colour of his skin, the 
nature of his hair, the colour of his eyes, the slight development 

* See "Crania Americana," by Morton, Philadelphia, 1839; "Types of 
Mankind," Nott and Gliddon, Philadelphia, 1854 ; " L'Homme Americain," 
by A. d'Orbigny, 2 vols., Paris, 1859 ; article " Americain," by E. Dally, 
in " Encycl. des Sciences Medic," vol. iii., 1865; &c. 



Chap, xi.] AMERICAN TYPE. 481 

and harshness of his pilous system, his small eyes with narrow 
palpebral apertures, his orbital megasemia, &c. Flattening of the 
occiput is met with also in some races of Asia. But he also ex- 
hibits marked differences, such as his projecting, convex, and com- 
paratively narrow nose, his very tall stature, the small capacity 
of his cerebral cavity, and his slight prognathism. These are 
characteristics of races which have crossed, one of the elements 
being clearly Asiatic, and the other altogether special — dolicho- 
cephaly, the European nose, &c. The above description applies 
rather to N'orth Americans. Il^evertheless the Toltec sub-type, to 
which Morton refers the natives of Mexico, Peru, and New 
Granada, differs but little from them. The difficulty of American 
craniology arises from the fact of the existence of such extensive 
cranial deformations. By basing it upon them, and setting aside 
some rare deformations, we might however, we think, take out 
from the mass of Americans two ancient peoples who practised 
deformation of the head — the one in the method employed by the 
ISTahuas, the other in that by the Aymaras. (See p. 183.) The 
Tehuelche or Patagonian type should also be set aside, and then 
we might take account of those singular differences of complexion, 
pale in the Botocudas and in the Guarani race, almost black in the 
ancient Californians and the Charruas of Uruguay, which are now 
extinct. 

"The Californians," says La Perouse, "have a similar com- 
plexion to that of the negro whose hair is not woolly. Judging 
simply by their colour, one would imagine oneself amongst 
negroes in a plantation in the island of St. Domingo." "Their 
hair," says Eollin, "is long and very tough. Their forehead is 
low, the eyebrows are thick and black, the eyes black and sunken, 
the nose is short, and depressed at the root ; the mouth large, the 
malar bones are prominent, the lips thick, and the teeth beautiful." 
^'The Charruas," says Prichard, "belong by their colour to the 
Black races, or those which are nearly l^lack, with scarcely any 
mixture of red tinge in them. They are upright, well-proportioned, 
and active ; they are of middle stature, and about an inch taller on 
the average than the Spaniards. They have a straight head and 



482 PATAGONIAN TYPE. [Chap. xi. 

open forehead, regular features, although the nose appears narrow 
and as though sunken between the eyes ; the eyebrows are scant, 
they have no beard, and very little hair on other parts of the body. 
The hair of the head is thick, very long, glossy, and always black. 
Their hands and feet are smaller than those of Europeans, and the 
neck of the women is less full than that of the Indian." • The 
characteristics of these two races therefore partake more of the 
American Mongol element than of the one having projecting 
features, which we are about to describe. 

The Patagonian Type. 

The Patagonian type, or rather a certain ancient Patagonian type, 
requires that we should speak of it by itself. The whole popula- 
tion being confined to one extremity of the continent, where it is 
shut up among mountains, there is greater probability of its being 
the remains of some primitive race. The Patagonians, or Tehuelches, 
are exactly in these conditions. Their characters, as obtained 
from a study of Kving subjects, are the following : They are very 
tall, the limbs and the trunk being in proportion ; the head is large, 
the face a long oval, the complexion olive brown, or a tone that 
Pitzroy compares to old mahogany ; the nose is short, broad, and 
flat ; the forehead bulging (bomhe) and prominent, the superciliary 
arches are moderately pronounced, the chin projecting, the beard 
and moustaches scanty. Up to this point there is but little 
difference between it and the average American type, but it 
specially belongs to the present race of Patagonians. Pive skulls 
procured from the ancient encampments, or prehistoric paradero^ 
of Patagonia, and brought to the Museum of the Laboratory of 
Antln:opology belonging to the Ecole des Hautes Etudes, by 
M. Moreno, present an appearance totally distinct from all the 
other American skulls in the collection. At first sight one would 
think they were the skulls of Esquimaux. The narrowness of the 
forehead, its height, its bulging at the level of the frontal bosses, the 
antero-posterior elongation of the cranium, its posterior part in the 
form of an inclined plane, and then curved round; the height 



Chap. XI.] PATAGONIAN TYPE. 483 

of the vertical diameter or acroceplialy, the vertical direction 
downwards of the sides, the elongation of the face, the projection 
forwards of the malar bones, the degree of prognathism, the narrow- 
ness of the interval between the orbits, the harmony of form 
between the cranium and the face— all this is Esquimau. The 
teeth themselves are worn down horizontally as in this race. But 
it is wanting in many of their characters. Their malar bones, 
looked at in profile, project forwards, and fall straight, as in the 
Esquimau (compare Eigs. 46 and 47) ; but looked at in front they 
do not project outwards, and are not unusually large : whence the 




Fig. 47.— Patagonian type: Skull from the paraderos, from the collection jsf M. Moreno 
(Museum of the Laboratory of Anthropology of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes). 

oval shape of the face, described by Lieutenant Musters as that of 
the present Patagonian race, while the Esquimau has a full face 
and has very wide cheek-bones, and the American, barring his 
prominent nose, generally has it both broad and flat. The cephalic 
index of those five skulls is 72*02, that is to say they are the most 
decidedly dolichocephalic in the world, after those of the Esqui- 
maux, and their prognathism is 69*4, or less than the American, 
and as much or more than the Esquimaux. To make up for this, they 
are mesorrhinian, very nearly approaching to platyrrhinian, while 
the Esquimaux are the most leptorrhinian on the face of the globe. 

2 I 2 



484 RED AFRICAN TYPE. [Chap. xi. 

There is no unity of type, it is true, among tlie skulls from the 
paraderos; there are brachycephales to be found among them, 
some with deformations, and some without, showing that at that 
epoch the races of Patagonia were already numerous. But the type 
that we select from them must have predominated, for the average 
of the twenty-seven normal skulls of M. Moreno are dolichocephalic, 
75 "92. However this may be, this unexpected approximation to 
the Esquimaux suggests some curious questions for consideration. 
Are the Tehuelches the autochthonous dolichocephalic element, 
which, by its crossing with a race of Asia, has given origin to the 
present American type ] May not the craniological singularity of 
the Esquimaux, who in certain respects resemble the Samoyedes 
and the Mongols proper, and in others are as distinct as it is 
possible to be, be explained in the same way? They would be 
another form of cross of the same Asiatic brachycephalic element 
with the same autochthonous American dolichocephalic element.''^ 

A Bed Type. 

A Red type, it must be admitted, exists in the centre of Africa. 
The Americans are frequently designated by the title of Eed, not 
on account of the colour of their skin, but because they frequently 
paint the face in this way. It would be equally proper to call 
certain of the Polynesian Islanders red. In Africa also this tint 
is very common in the centre of the continent, from the Eed Sea 
to Senegal ; but it is separated in so decided a way in the midst of 
the surrounding black populations, that it is necessary to look upon 
it as a particular type. 

The Eed African type is associated with black and glossy hair, 
and unfortunately is found everywhere mixed, or in close contact, 
with the negro populations. Here and there, however, it is suffi- 
ciently isolated, among the Eoulbas for example, for its independent 
character to be demonstrated. Let us consider first the colour of 
the skin. 

* See *' At Home with the Patagonians," by G. C. Musters, London, 1871 ; 
" Des Cimetieres et Paraderos de Patagonie," by F. P. Moreno, jun., in 
" Revue d'Anthrop.," vol. iii., 1874; &c. 



Chap. XI.] EED AFEICAN TYPE. 485 

Although it is stated that the red colour adopted by the ancient 
Egyptians in their representations of themselves on their monu- 
ments was merely arbitrary, it may be asked whether they had not 
some motive for this. A portion of the present race of Barabras 
of the valley of the Nile above the First Cataract are still of this 
colour, which they themselves compare to polished mahogany. In 
the plains of Sennaar, Caillaud has described the El Akmar, or 
Eeds, as half-breeds, or of a peculiar caste. A considerable number 
of Danakil negroes on the banks of the Eed Sea are of a red 
copper-colour [Rochet cVHericourt). The ancient inhabitants of the 
Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb are called Himyarites, which signifies red 
{Maury). Among the southern Tawareks, and the Tibboo Indians, 
they speak also of reds. The Ronga, Dor, Bongo, Kredj, and 
JSTyam-Nyams of the western affluents of the Bahr-el-Ghazal have a 
more or less reddish complexion mixed with black. The ancient 
Egyptians moreover were not ignorant of the existence of red 
people in the centre of Africa. J^egroid people of a reddish 
colour are depicted on the monuments of Thebes of the 18th 
dynasty. At the present time negro tribes are spoken of on the 
banks of the Zambesi, and as far as the Congo, with this shade of 
colour. But the most important consideration is the fact that the 
Eoulba people are now flourishing in the Soudan. Known by the 
name of Peuls in Senegal, called Eoulahs by the Mandingoes, 
Eellani by the negroes of Howssa, Eellatahs by the Kanori of 
Bornii, and Eoullan by the Arabs, they came from the east, accord- 
ing to Dr. Barth, at a very remote period. They do not however 
appear in history until about the tenth century. At that epoch 
they constituted the " pale " element, which was predominant in 
the Ghanata kingdom to the south-west of Timbuctoo. In 1500 
they were powerful in the west and south of the Sonray kingdom 
to the east of Timbuctoo; in 1600- they appeared in. Howssa; in 
1700 in Begharmi. They are shepherds and nomads, and continue 
to spread and propagate Islamism, without forming distinct 
nationalities. It was only in 1803 that Othman dan Eodie, one of 
their chiefs, on his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca, united them 
into a community, and by force of arms imposed his authority over 



486 RED AFEICAN TYPE. [Chap. xi. 

the greater part of Soudan. In this vast territory, which, is to a 
certain extent civilised, Dr. Earth met with three principal races : 
(1) The autochthonous Negroes, constituting the majority, the 
vanquished people of the country ; (2) The Eoulahs, or Foulbas 
(native name), the conquerors, with red complexion and straight 
hair ; (3) The Arabs, traders or shepherds, who, two centuries ago, 
came from the east into Bornii. 

This close contact everywhere of the Eoulah with the negro, 
explains why travellers describe them sometimes as slim and well- 
proportioned, with glossy hair — (Mungo Park on two occasions 
writes " silky hair ") — sometimes as squat and short, with woolly 
hair. They often indeed take wives from among the negresses, 
while the reverse is rare {Bartli). Among their half-breeds are 
noticed the Toucolors of Senegal, the Black Peuls, the Torodes, 
and the Susus, these last belonging to the Mandingoes, 

The colour of the purest-blood Foulahs is sometimes coppery- 
red, sometimes of a rhubarb shade. In the country, where the 
natives go naked, the contrast between the two types — the one 
reddish yellow, the other negroid — is very striking. The characters 
of the type may be specially gathered from the western Foulahs. 
The face is oval, the nose long and arched, the teeth vertical, the 
lips somewhat thin, the figure slim and tall, the limbs well-propor- 
tioned, the extremities small. Dr. Earth thus describes those to 
the east of the JSTiger : " They have small, sharp, and open features, 
they are lively and intelligent ; the face is long as compared with 
the round negro face ; the lips not thick, the complexion copper- 
coloured, the hair black, long, reaching sometimes to the shoulders ; 
the figure upright and. slim, the extremities slender, moderate 
corpulence." In a word, we must, in the Anthropology of Africa, 
take into account a special Red type with smooth hair, approxi- 
mating to the European type: Eeing now closely intermingled 
with the negro races, it is no longer represented but by the ]3ure- 
blood Foulahs.* 

* "Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa," by Dr. Barth, 
in 1849-55. London. 



€hap. XII.] NEGRO TYPE. 487 



CHAPTER XIL 

ITEGRO, KAFFIR, HOTTENTOT TYPES PAPUAN, NEGRITO, TASMANIAN 

TYPES AUSTRALIAN TYPE CONCLUSION OF THE SUBJECT OF 

HUMAN RACES. 

The Negro Type. 

The Negro type, understood in its more general acceptation, is 
met with in Asia, near its soutli-eastern angle, in Oceania, where 
it exhibits two distinct types, the Papuan and the ]N"egrito, and 
in Africa, where it is divided into the Guinean, Kaffir, and 
Hottentot types. We take the Guinean as hest representing the 
most ancient and the most classical Negro type. 

The northern limit of the most characteristic negro tribes ex- 
tends from the river Senegal, inclines to the east as far as the • 
10th degree of north latitude {Maury), and is lost in the region 
visited by Speke and Baker, where there are different tribes whose 
parentage is not as yet thoroughly determined. Above this line, 
however, in the Desert, we find an isolated negro tribe, the Tebous, 
or Tibboos. On its confines we meet with a regular succession 
of other tribes, interrupted here and there by the Poulahs, namely: 
The native negroes of Adamawa, Massina, Howssa, Bornii, Beg- 
harmi, and Dar-Piir; the j^ubians of Kordofan; the Shillucks, 
Fungi, and Schangallas, close to Abyssinia; and the ^N'ouairs, 
Bari, and Sere of Bahr-el-Ghazal. The western limit of the [N^egro 
type is formed by the sea. Its principal tribes are from Senegal 
to Benguela, as if they had been driven to the coast, namely : The 
Yoloffs, Sereres, and Mandingoes of Senegambia; the Peloupas 
of Sierra Leone; the Kroumans of Liberia; the Fantis, Accras, 
and Ashantis of the Gold Coast ; the Mahis and Dahomeys of the 
Gulf of Benin; the Ibos, Makos, and Calabar of the mouth of 
theMger; the Bouliis, Bakalais, and M'pongwes of the Gaboon; 
&c. Behind them are grouped other tribes of a better type, with 
somewhat clearer complexion, or slightly mixed with red. Certain 



488 NEGEO TYPE. [Chap. xii. 

Peuls of Senegambia, the Bambarras of the Upper Mger, and 
certain tribes of Fans, or Pahnins, of the Gaboon are of this 
number. The following description specially relates to the 
Guinean sub-type, but may be considered as that of the ISTegro 
type in general. The skin of the negro is velvety, cool to the 
touch, glossy, varying from a reddish, yellowish, or bluish black 
to jet black. His hair and eyes are black, the sclerotic dark or 
yellowish, black spots are seen on the tongue, the roof of the 
mouth, and even under the conjunctiva. The palms of the hands 
and soles of the feet are lighter in colour than the rest of the 
body. The beard is scant, and is developed late. The body is 
destitute of hair, except on the pubis and in the arm-pits. The 
skull is dolichocephalic (73 "0 on the west coast of Africa), occa- 
sionally mesaticephalic, and even sub-brachycephalic. Its capacity,, 
in eighty-five Western negroes, measured by M. Broca, was 1372. 
cubic centimetres, or 151 cubic centimetres less than in the natives 
of Auvergne. 

The norma verticalis is of an elliptical shape. The supra-iniac 
portion of the occipital is frequently projecting, its lateral portions 
are flat and vertical, the curved temporal lines describe an arc 
corresponding with the mass of temporal muscles which are inserted 
beneath them ; the temporal shell itself is larger than that of the 
white. The frontal is articulated frequently with the temporal; 
the greater wings of the sphenoid arc consequently not articulated 
with the parietal. The cranial sutures are more simple than in the 
White type, and are obliterated sooner [Gratiolet). The squamo- 
temporal, and the spheno-parietal frequently form a horizontal 
straight line. The forehead is narrow at the base, sometimes 
receding and rather low, sometimes straight and bulging (homhe) at 
the summit. The frontal bosses are often confluent, or replaced by 
a single and median protuberance. The superciliary arches project 
but little, and are smooth, very diff'erent from the Melanesian negro, 
so much so that by this the two sexes tend to resemble each other. 
As a result of this, the orbits are less deep, which contributes, with 
the slight depression of the root of the nose, and the less marked 
general appearance of the face, to give to the negro of Africa a less 



Chap, xil] NEGRO TYPE. 489 

ferocious aspect than' to the negro of Oceania. The orbits moreover 
are microsemes, that is to say short from ahove downwards, hut 
much less so than in the Melanesian negroes, thus helping still more 
to distinguish them. 

The eyehalls are close to the head, and the palpebral apertures 
are nevertheless small and are on the same horizontal line. The 
space between the eyes is less flat and less large than in the 
Mongolian type, but more so than in the European type. The 
nose is developed in width at the expense of its projection ; its base 
is large and crushed in, owing to the softness of the cartilages, and 
spreads out into two divergent ala3, with elliptical nostrils more or 
less exposed. This extremity is sometimes trilobed. The skeleton 
of the nose is platyrrhinian (54-78) ; the two bones proper are 
occasionally united, as in apes. The inferior border of the anterior 
aperture is obliterated, or replaced by a sort of platform, the 
boundary between the nasal fossae and the sub-nasal region being 
undefined in proportion to the very slight development of the 
median spine. "^ 

The face as a whole is usually long, like the cranium, but it is 
sometimes short and round, and then it is frequently flat. The 
zygomatic arches, and the malar bones have only a slight lateral 
projection ; the former are more frequently cryptozygous,t accord- 
ing to Blumenbach's method, than in the White type, and less 
frequently than in the Mongolian type. The prognathism of the 
negro extends Avithin certain limits to the entire face. All the 
parts of the superior maxilla contribute to it, and even the ptery- 
goid processes, which are drawn forward by the development of the 
jaw; but it is only really characteristic and considerable in the sub- 
nasal region, and in the teeth. It frequently exists also in thg 
lower jaw, that is to say the chin recedes, and the teeth project 

* Loc. cit., in " Eevue d'Anthrop.," vol. i. p. 657. 

f When making use of the expressions " cryptozygous " and "phenozy- 
gous," as synonymous with the less or greater development of the zygomatic 
arches, it is well to remember that, with very few exceptions, when the 
parietal angle is negative these arches are always visible, according to the 
norma verticalis. 



490 KAFFIR TYPE. [Chap. xir. 

obliquely forwards. The teeth themselves are wider apart than in 
the white races, beautifully white, very firm and sound. Lastly, 
the ears are small, round, their border not well curled, the lobule 
short and scarcely detached, and the auditory opening wide. The 
neck is short. 

M. Pruner-Bey speaks of two important characters which remind 
one of the ape. The three curvatures of the spine are less pro- 
nounced in the negro than in the white ; his thorax is relatively 
flat from side to side, and slightly cylindrical. The shoulders, he 
adds, are less powerful than in the European; the umbilicus is 
nearer the pubis ; the iliac bones in the male are thicker and more 
vertical; the neck of the femur is less oblique. With respect 
to the proportions of the extremities, we refer the reader to 
pages 303, 304, et seq. The femur is less oblique, the tibia more 
curved, the calf of the leg high and but little developed, the heel 
broad and projecting, the foot long, but slightly arched, flat, and 
the great toe rather shorter than in the white. ISTegresses age very 
rapidly, their breasts elongate after the first pregnancy, and after- 
wards become flabby and pendulous. 



The Kaffir Type. 

The Kaffir type, one of the highest expressions of the general 
Negro type, extends from the Zambesi to the Hottentot territories, 
and from the coast of Mozambique to the Atlantic Ocean. Its 
. principal tribes are : On the west coast, the Damaras or Ovahereros ; 
on the east, the Amakosah; near Cape Colony, the Ama-Zuliis 
and the Maciias; in the interior, on the western declivity of 
the chain of the Maloutas, the Bechuanas, and the Bassoutos ; and 
on the Zambesi, the Makololos. Linguists, however, relying on 
the extension of the Bantou language, extend their boundaries, on 
the one side to the Congo and even beyond, and on the other 
to the coast of Zanzibar, among the Suahilis. The raids made 
continually by the Kaflirs against the Cape Colony, and tradi- 
tions according to which they are said to have come from the 



Chap. XII.] HOTTENTOT TYPE. 491 

north, at a remote period, testify to their warlike spirit, and to the 
possibility of their previous influence at some former time. But it 
does not follow that they should have left their physical traits in 
their course. We confine ourselves, therefore, to the best recog- 
nised tribes of the south-east. The Kaffir type bears a general 
resemblance to the Guinean or Ethiopian, but it is a degree less 
bestial. The face is longer and of somewhat oval figure, the out- 
lines of the head are more decided, its muscular attachments and 
processes more marked, the maxillary bones larger. The skin 
exhibits various shades of blackish brown. The hair is thick, 
harsh, and woolly. The nose is broad and flat (e;pate), the lips 
thick. The palpebral openings remind us sometimes of those of 
the Yellow races. The odour exhaled from the skin in all the 
negro tribes is stronger in the Kaffir. They are very tall, slim, and 
well made. 

Seven Kaffir skulls measured by M. Bertillon showed an average 
capacity, enormous for negroes, of 1453 cubic centimetres. " Their 
vertical diameter is considerable," adds this author. In eight 
similar skulls examined by M. Broca, the mean cephalic index was 
72 "5, being slightly less than in the Guinean negroes. The 
platyrrhiny of the two types is sensibly the same (54*99 in Kaffirs). 
The prognathism, according to our own tables, is a little less in 
Kaffirs, 68-21. 

It would be very desirable to ascertain the type of the 
Makololos of the Zambesi, whose language approximates them 
to the Kaffirs, but who appear to differ from them in ph^^sique. 
Perhaps they may be the remnants of some ancient type. Un- 
fortunately they are rapidly decreasing.* 

Tlie Hottentot Type. 

The Hottentot type, now confined to the extremity of Southern 
Africa, formerly extended quite as far as the 10th degree of south 

'^ See article, " Cafres," by Ch. Letourneau, in " Encycl. des Sc. Medic," 
2nd series, vol. ii. ; "Die Eingeborenen Sud Africa's Etbnograpliish. und 
Anatomisch Besciirieben," by G. Fritscb, Breslau, 1873. 



492 HOTTENTOT TYPE. [Chap. xii. 

latitude. As evidence of this, the geographical names in Kaffraria 
are still Hottentot. The type includes the Hottentots of the 
Colony, the Korannas, the J^amaquas, the Griquas (see page 382), 
and the Bosjesmans. We shall specially have in view the first 
three. The Hottentots, or Koi-Koin, have a yellow-brown or 
gray skin. This character is almost an invariable one. Their 
long woolly hair, which is inserted obliquely in very small tufts, 
approximates them to the Papuans. Their thick, broad, and 
prominent cheek-bones, and their small and oblique palpebral 
apertures, on the other hand remind one of the Chinese races 
{Barrow) ; their eyes are dark chestnut or black, and very wide 
apart. Their cranial capacity is 1290 (Broca), that is to say 
82 cubic centimetres less than in the Western negroes ; they are 
more dolichocephalic than these. Their narrow forehead is com- 
pensated for by its height, and it is frequently bulging at the 
height of the frontal bosses. The nose is frightfully broad and 
flat, the nostrils are thick, very divergent, and exposed. Their 
prognathism is generally enormous, though it varies. The mouth 
is large, with thick projecting and turned-up lips. The chin is 
pointed, although supported by a receding jaw. The ears are 
large, and without lobule. The Hottentots have but little beard, 
and the body is destitute of hair. Their stature is below the 
average, at least in the three tribes in question, the Korannas 
being not quite so small, which may arise from a cross with the 
Kaffirs. Their joints are thick ; some of them have broad and 
heavy feet, but in the majority the feel and hands are somewhat 
small. Some are of weak frame, others squat and very muscular. 
Steatopyga, which is somewhat common among the women, in- 
creases with puberty. It is met with, here and there, throughout 
the whole Hottentot group, and, as we have said, as far as the 
regions occupied by the Somalis, where the Hottentot race is no 
longer to be seen. In a case mentioned by Barrow, the tremulous 
mass passed 14 centimetres beyond the line of the back (see page 
362). This character, as well as the tablier, is only constant and 
of any extent in the Bosjesman tribe. 

The Hottentot type is, in other respects^ without imity; one 



Chap, xii.] HOTTENTOT TYPE. 493 

would call it an agglomeration of ancient races driven down into 
this extremity of the globe. Thus, fifteen of their skulls in the 
Museum have a sub-nasal prognathism of 73 "5, and yet we find 
among them three marked as Colonial Hottentots, in which it 
is only 80, and this one of the most favoured of the Yellow races. 
There are two examples of Bosjesmans, where it is 63 "4, and two 
of jN'amaquas, as low as 58 '2 and 51 '3 respectively. Such dif- 
ferences are certain evidences of crossing. So with platyrrhinia — 
M. Broca found the nasal index varying from 46 to 72. 

Travellers agree in considering the greater number of the 
Bosjesmans, and some of the Namaquas, as forming a distinct 
type. Three characters in the former seem to favour this view : (1) 
The large steatopyga, which is the exception among the Hottentots 
and the rule with a very large number among the Bosjesmans ; (2) 
The tablier, in the same way; (3) The stature, which is much smaller 
than that of Hottentots. Livingstone imagined that he had seen a 
Bosjesman 1-83 metre in height, but he was no doubt deceived by 
a stray Kaffir. It is certain that the Bosjesmans are the smallest 
race in the world, and that it is a stretch to put their mean stature 
at more than 1 -40 m^tre. Many traits in their skeletons have also 
attracted attention, such as the welding of the two bones proper of 
the nose into one — the obliteration of the linea as;pera of the 
femur, as in apes. In other respects their characters and those of 
Hottentots are alike. For example : the hair growing in tufts of 
closely-twisted spirals, some millimetres in diameter, the skin of a 
yellowish colour, or like dirty varnished oak, &c. Their facial 
angle varies from 64 to 70, according to Fritsch; it is 64 in one of 
the Namaquas in the Museum, this being the lowest known in 
Man. The Bosjesman woman, known by the name of the Hottentot 
Venus, who died in Paris, and whose full-length portrait in the 
Museum is an excellent example of this race, was considered 
tall by her own people. Cuvier has given a good description 
of her : " She had a way of pouting her lips," he says, " exactly 
like that we have observed in the ourang-outang." To anyone 
who has seen these anthropoids the simile is very expressive. 
*' Her movements had something abrupt and fantastical about 



494 HOTTENTOT TYPE. [Chap. xii. 

them, reminding one of those of the ape. Her lips were monstrously- 
large. Her ear was like that of many apes, being small, the tragus, 
weak, and the external border almost obliterated behind. These,"' 
he says, after having described the bones of the skeleton, " are 
animal characters." Again : "1 have never seen a human head 
more like an ape than that of this woman." What we said before- 
relative to the Hottentot type throughout the whole of Southern 
and Eastern Africa is still more true with . respect to the special 
Bosjesman type. The Obongos, near the banks of the Gaboon,, 
have the same old yellow, jaune vieux complexion, the same 
growth of the hair in tufts as the Hottentots, and a character- 
which is par excellence that of the Bosjesmans — smallness of 
stature. From the coast of Aden, among the Somalis, to the 
mouth of the Ogobai on the west, we find races of the Bosjesman 
type— the lowest of the human race. The fact escaped Cuvier 
that this type is the most animal known, and diminishes the 
distance which separates the European from the anthropoid ape. 
What should we say if the type were a pure one % 

In concluding our remarks concerning the JSTegro types of Africa^ 
it should be noticed that the several divisions we have admitted 
among them are altogether insufficient. We have been studying; 
the Negro as compared with the White, but without taking any great 
account of the distinctions between them, which are as palpable as 
between White or Yellow races. Thus, among the black tribes of 
the West Coast that we have associated together under the name of 
Guineans, there are evidently two very distinct types — one ugly, 
diminutive, with large and squat limbs, and with a round or 
short face; the other comparatively handsome, tall, with slender 
and well-proportioned limbs, and with a long face. Thus we shall 
have to give up the Hottentot type, and after perhaps separating 
the JSTamaquan type, keep to that of the Bosjesman. So among 
the Kaffirs, or rather those sprung from them, extending from the 

* See "Travels in tlie Interior of Southern Africa," by J. Barrow, 2 vols.,. 
London, 1801 ; " Memoire sur la Femme Hottentote," by Baron Cuvier, in. 
" Hist. Nat. des Mammiferes," by G. St. Hilaire and E. Cuvier, 2 vols, in 4to^ 
Paris, 1824 j &c. 



Chap. XII.] PAPUAN AND NEW CALEDONIAN TYPES. 495 

Zambesi to Bahr-el-Ghazal to the west of the great lakes, there are 
very many types, which are at the same time very characteristic 
ones. The collection of busts of M. de EroberviUe is sufficient of 
itself to prove that the description of the IS'egro races of Africa 
must be altopjether remodelled.* 



The Papuan Type. 

The Papuan type is distributed throughout the whole geo- 
graphical area called Melanesia, except in Australia. It appears 
to be most pure in the Solomon Isles and the jSTew Hebrides. In 
the Fiji Islands, and even in J^ew Caledonia, it is mingled with 
the Polynesian type. Its characters are the following : 

Ordinary stature, but relatively taller than the ^N'egrito and 
Malay types ; the skin is black or of a chocolate colour ; the hair is 
black, harsh, frizzled, growing in distinct tufts, which are short and 
thick in early life, and at a later period assume a bushy character, 
or like the head of a mop {Ute de vadrouille), measuring thirty 
centimetres on each side. The beard, as well as the hair on the 
body, grows in the same way in tufts, but these are farther apart. 
They have a very dolichocephalic skull, with the lateral walls 
vertical, and frequently exhibiting a median crest commencing 
behind the bregma, or going beyond as far as the middle of the 
forehead. The eyes are sunk, the sclerotics dull ; the nose is thick 
and wide at the base, but projecting and turned up, it is said, at 
least in ;N"ew Guinea, with the median lobule extending beyond 
the nostrils (Wallace). The sub-nasal prognathism is considerable, 
the lips thick and projecting, the jaw receding, and the face, on 
the whole, rather long.t 

The Neiv Caledonians. 

The New Caledonians are generally associated with the Papuan 
type. In reality, they are a mixed race formed of three elements : 

* See " Die Nigritien," by R. Hartmann. Berlin, 1876. 

f See " Indian Archipelago — ^Papuans," by J. W. Earl. London, 1859. 



496 NEW CALEDONIAN TYPE. [Chap. xii. 

a Polynesian ; one whose name, Melanesian, it would be as well to 
allow to remain, which leaves ns in no doubt as to its relationship ; 
and an intermediate or cross race. Out of a large number of 
skulls it is easy to select them ; the half-breeds are in greatest 
number, the Melanesians tolerably numerous, and the Polynesians 
rare. M. Bourgarel arrives at the same result on the living 
subject, and describes two varieties — the black and the yellow. 
The former is characterised, he says, by the very dark colour of 
the skin, the short hair, flocculent rather than woolly {Forster), 
short stature, slender limbs, fiat foot, very considerable dolicho- 
cephaly, marked prognathism^ enormous superciliary arches, vertical 
direction of the two lateral planes of the skull, &c. The latter 
has the same characters, though attenuated ; among others, taller 
stature, limbs better proportioned, olive-yellow complexion, longer 
and less woolly hair, sometimes frizzled, sides of the head round, 
(fee. However this may be, the present mixed or crossed race 
presents the following characters on examination of skulls which 
have been brought to Europe, and which, for the most part, are 
those of the original inhabitants of the Island of Pines : 

The cranial capacity in the adult man is 1460, and m the 
woman 1428, and is greater than that of the Australian and the 
negro, but much less than that of the White and Yellow races, 
especially in the man. The cephalic index of 71*78 is as small as 
that of Australians, Esquimaux, and the Veddahs of Ceylon. The 
forehead of 9 3 '5 is much narrower than in the negroes of Africa, 
but less than in Australians. The nasal index clearly places it 
apart from all the Black races ; it is 53*06, that is to say very 
nearly mesorrhinian. The orbital index of 80*6 appxoximates it to 
the Australians and the prehistoric races, and separates it from the 
Yellow races. The prognathism is 69*8, and a little less than in 
the Australians and negroes of Africa, though in all it is consider- 
able. Simply by the arrangement of the inferior border of the 
nasal aperture one may always distinguish a jN'ew Caledonian from 
an African negro. In the former it is absolutely obliterated, and 
replaced by two channels of an altogether simian character, which 
pass down on each side in the direction of the alveolar border. In 



Chap, xii.] 



NEW CALEDONIAN TYPE. 



497 



the latter it is blunt but tolerably distinct, or replaced by a sort of 
platform. The facial angle is the smallest in our tables (see 




Fia. 48.— A New Caledonian half-breed : Yellow variety of M. Bourgarel, from M. de la 
Eicherie's collection. 



page 286). Daubenton's angle is that of the Black races, the 
parietal angle the smallest known. The superciliary arches are 
more prominent according as the individual is more Melanesian — a 



498 NEGEITO TYPE. [Chap. xii. 

remarkable difference from the negro of Africa, in whom they are 
small and flat. But what strikes one at a cursory glance in the 
principal type of the Island of Pines, is the coarseness of the 
features, and the contrast between the hollows and prominences of 
the face, which gives it a ferocious appearance. The integuments 
would however modify these characters, as in the Tasmanian, to 
judge by the very beautiful photographs forwarded by M. Simon, 
Erench consul at Sydney, and unless they represent another altogether 
contemporaneous type, the face would be, on the contrary, full, 
round, moderately long, the features, as it were, pasty, and without 
animation. The hair forms a thick and continuous fleece ; the nose 
is large, broad, and flat, the lips large and pouting, &c. Figure 48 
represents a half-breed, no doubt one of the Yellow variety. 
From her tall stature, her slender limbs, and her comparatively 
light complexion, she is Polynesian. From her deeply-sunken 
eyes and overhanging eyebrows, her long forearm, her slender and 
high calf of the leg, her projecting heel and flat foot, she is 
Melanesian; from her frizzled rather than woolly hair, she is a 
cross-breed.'^ 

It must be admitted, in short, that the present New Caledonian 
race is principally Melanesian, as the hair, as well as the features 
generally, testify, but that the Polynesian influence has made itself 
apparent, especially in the stature and the nasal index. It is to 
this we have alluded whenever we have been comparing the 
neo^roes of Oceania with those of Africa. 



TliG Negrito Type. 

The Negrito type has been carefully defined by M. de Quatrefages. 
Its present representatives are the Mincopies of the Andaman 

* "Des Eaces de rOceanie Fran9aise et en particulier de celles de la 
Nouvelle Caledonie," by A. Bourgarel, in " Mem. Soc. dAnthrop. ; " first 
Memoir, vol. i. ; second, vol. ii. ; " Etude des Cranes Neo-Caledoniens du 
Musee de Caen," by Bertillon, in "Eevue dAnthrop.," vol. i., 1873; 
" Presentation de Photographies de Neo-Caledoniens et dAustraliens," by 
ToiDinard, "Bull. Soc. dAnthrop.," 2nd series, vol. xii., 1876. 



Chap, xil] NEGEITO TYPE. 499 

Islands, the Semangs of the interior of the peninsula of Malacca, 
the Aigtas of the Philippines. Their fundamental characters are 
low stature, woolly hair, black skin, and sub-hrachycephaly. This 
last character is the most prominent. The cephalic index of five of 
their skulls is 82-54. The stature of five individuals collected by 
M. Hamy from various authors, is, on the average, 1-47 metre. 
The hair of the Andaman is black, woolly, and grows in spirally- 
twisted tufts, like that of Papuans, Tasmanians, and Hottentots. 
They have but little beard, and the skin, the reverse of the Tas- 
manian, is glossy and jet black. The following characters also 
belong to them : The forehead is full and projecting, wide as 
compared with that of negroes, but less so than that of Tasmanians. 
The face is round or quadrilateral, and rather short, the cheek-bones 
broad and somewhat flat. The eyes are large and round, that is to 
say not very well formed, and horizontal, with thick eyelashes. 
The nose is broad at the base, but slightly crushed in, and the 
nostrils are round. The sub-nasal prognathism of 70*2 in the two 
specimens in the Museum is about the average of Yellow races. 
The lips are moderately large, and appear but little turned up for 
negroes ; the face is round at the bottom, and not receding. The 
Andamans are short and squat, though the Luzon gM, according 
to the drawing of Choris, is slim and well-proportioned. They 
have square shoulders, well-developed chest, the trunk the 
same all the way down, without the slightest figure, the feet and 
hands moderately large, the fingers long, the heels not projecting, 
the toes spread out when standing on the ground. There is but 
little difference in the figure between the two sexes. In fact, 
were it not for the hair and the complexion, the negritos would, 
on the whole, be moderately negroid. They at one time occupied 
Malacca, and probably New Guinea, and the southern extremity of 
Asia. But it has not been shown that the black populations of 
India mentioned in the Mahabarrata were negritos. Up to that 
time no positive statement has been made as to the presence of 
woolly hair in that peninsula with regard to absolutely inferior 
simian types. The descriptions of them given by Piddington, 
Eousselei and Blond are very meagre. The only argument in favour 

2 K 2 



500 TASMANIAN TYPE. [Chap. xii. 

of tlie negrito nature of the autochtlionous stock of India is the 
existence, here and there, especially in Ceylon and the adjoining 
part of India, of black tribes of very low stature.* 

The Tasmanian Type. 

The Tasmanian type, now extinct, is separated in a most remark- 
able manner from all the neighbouring types, negroes or others. 
While the fifty-four N'ew Caledonians in the Museum have a cephalic 
index of 71*7, and the twenty-seven Australians of 71*4, that of the 
forty-one Polynesians is 76*3, and that of ten Tasmanians, 76*1. 

Then the norma verticalis of Blumenbach leads to a similar 
result ; the vault of the cranium of Tasmanians is characteristic — 
it is of the keel-shaped type {en carene), at least in the skulls in 
the Museum ; in other w^ords, it has a median sagittal projection, 
bounded by two lateral depressions, beyond which are two enlarge- 
ments, like the sides of a ship. The Polynesians exhibit this also, 
especially those in the east, although less marked^ while it never 
exists either in Australians or N'ew Caledonians, who are the 
most Melanesian. Again, while the angle of alveolo-nasal prog- 
nathism is 69*8 in New Caledonians, 68 "2 in Australians, 73*8 in 
two Andamanese, and 75*0 in Polynesians, it is 76*2 in six Tas- 
manians ; in other words, they are scarcely more prognathous than 
Europeans. With regard to the direction of the plane of the 
occipital foramen, a character of the fhst importance, we have the 
same result; they must be grouped with Corsicans and Berbers, the 
very opposite of the Oceanic races. ISTotwithstanding this, from 
their complexion, their hair, their platyrrhinia, their retroussee 
lips, and then' little cranial capacity, they are negroes. Their other 
craniometrical characters are these : Greater development of the 
posterior cranium, which places them among the occipital races of 
Gratiolet ; swelHng out of the temporo-zygomatic regions ; forehead 

* See "J^tude sur les Mincopies et la Eace Negrito en general," by 
A. de Quatrefages, in " Eevue d'Anthrop.," vol. i., 1872 ; " On the Andaman 
and Andamanese," by G. E. Dobson, in " Journal of the Antbropol. Insti- 
tute," April, 1875, &c. j "Les Noirs de I'lnde," in "Kevue d'Antkrop.," 
vol. iv. p. 567- 



Chap. XII.] AUSTEALIAN TYPE. 501 

broad at its lower part (94 millimetres), superciliary arches and 
glabella very projecting ; orbits deep, small, microsemic ; root of 
tbe nose considerably crushed in ; face broad and contracted, at the 
expense especially of the superior maxillary, though also of the 
inferior ; some flattening of the face otherwise ; the malar bones of 
the usual dimensions. With regard to the characters in the living 
subject, they are : A chocolate-black complexion, a little less dark 
perhaps than that of the Australian^ and less than that of the 
negro of Guinea ; woolly hair, growing not in one continuous 
fleece, but in spiral tufts, which fall doAvn in long ringlets; the 
beard and the hair on the rest of the body very abundant, as in 
Australians, the hair being flat in sections under the microscope ; 
small eyes, sunken, with dull sclerotics; nose broad and flat (epate), 
not ]3rojecting, thick, and puffy at the base ; mouth large, lips 
thick, the upper especially, and turned up; chin small and re- 
ceding; ears oval, with a thick lobule. Their stature exhibits 
nothing particular to remark upon^ and is below the average. From 
this it will be seen that the Tasmanian type is absolutely sui generis, 
and exhibits anomalies which cannot be otherwise accounted for. 
We have stated elsewhere that their skulls in the Museum appeared 
to be the product of a cross between the Melanesian and the Poly- 
nesian, but that they had a special physiognomy of theh own. By 
their manners and customs, the Tasmanians have some points of 
resemblance to the Andamanese.* 

The Australian Type. 

The Australian type, geographically allied to the preceding, is 
no less paradoxical, but in another sense. It is characterised by 
the combination of smooth hair with negroid features. On com- 
paring some Tasmanian and Australian skulls, we at first came to 
the conclusion that the former race were physically superior. On 

* See " Etude sur les Tasmaniens," by Dr. Paul Topinard, in "Mem. Soc. 
d'Anthrop.," vol. iii., meeting of the 18th Nov., 1869; "Examen des 
Mesures Craniometriques des Cranes Tasmaniens " of Mr. Barnard Davis, in 
" Eevue d'Anthrop.," vol. ii., by the same author ; " On the Osteology of 
the Tasmanians," by Mr. Barnard Davis, Haarlem, 1874. 



502 AUSTEALIAN TYPE. [Chap. xii. 

making some further measurements, Avhicli have been since published 
hy M. Broca and ourselves, we thought the same ; hut judging by 
their characters on the living subject, it is just the reverse — the 
Australians are superior. 

But is the Australian type a pure one 1 Commissioned by the 
Societe d'Anthropologie to deliver certain "Instructions" to travellers 
in Australia, we were all at once struck with the dilFerences- 
between the Australians of the coast, of the low plains, and 
some isolated spots in the bush, on the north-west more especially, 
and the Australians e?i masse of the interior, of the high lands, 
and especially those of the north-eastern region. We therefore 
called the attention of travellers to this point, and, in particular, 
as to the existence of woolly hair here and there, as mentioned 
by Humbron, Pickering, and Stokes. We thought that before 
the present race of Australians there must have existed on their- 
continent a race much inferior still, of whom the individuals with 
woolly hair and the ugly deformed tribes were the descendants. 
From other considerations relating to the ethnic customs described. 
by Mr. Staniland Wake, we were confirmed in this opinion. It 
is clear that the Australians might very well be the result of 
the cross between one race with smooth hair from some other 
place and a really negro and autochthonous race. The opinions 
expressed by Mr. Huxley are in harmony. with this hypothesis. 
He says the Australians are identical with the ancient inhabitants - 
of the Deccan. The features of the present blacks of India, and 
the characters which the Dravidian and Australian languages 
have in common, tend to assimilate them. The existence of the 
boomerang in the two countries, and some remnants of caste in. 
Australia, help to support the opinion. But the state of extreme 
misery of the inferior Australian tribes may equally explain some 
of the physical differences which they present. Woolly hair 
appears to be now but seldom seen. A few examples of it have 
been noticed in the York peninsula and the north-west point,, 
which might be accounted for by the immigration of Papuans 
from New Guinea, and in the south by the passage over to the 
other side of Behring's Straits of some Tasmanians to the continent. 



Chap, xii.] AUSTEALIAN TYPE. 503 

On the other hand, on studying the Australian skull, we notice 
tolerably-marked differences of type, and it is certain that the 
Polynesians landed at some period or other in the north-west, and 
the Malays in the north-east. Lastly, if the Australians are 
thorough Hindoos as regards their hair, they are Melanesians, or 
if you will, New Hehrideans, JSTew Caledonian negroes, in every 
other respect. Tne question may therefore be left. We are still 
in ignorance as to whether the present Australian race took its 




Fig. 49.— Australian type : One of its forms. 

origin on the spot, with the characters that we admit as belonging 
to it, or whether, on the contrary, it was altogether constituted 
in Asia, or whether it is a cross race, and in that case, of what 
elements it is composed. 

However it may be, the present race of Australians have the 
pilous system very developed over the whole body, the hair and 
the beard long, tufted, black, and straight. Their complexion 
is a dark-chocolate black, with sometimes a tinge of red in it. 
They are slight, well made, and if there are travellers who have 
only seen caricatures of them, there are sailors who describe 
them as perfect models for the sculptor. The Australians have one 
of the smallest cranial capacities known among mankind (1*347) ; 
they are among the most dolichocephalic (71*4), the most prog- 



504 AUSTRALIAN TYPE. [Chap. xii. 

nathous (68*2), and are platyrrMnian (5 3 '4) ; tlieir angle of 
Daubenton (direction of the plane of the occipital foramen) of 6*8° 
approximates them to the negro, and separates them, on the con- 
trary, from the Tasmanians (2 '6) and the White races. They have 
frequently the "rafter-like" shape of the vault of the cranium, 
a narrow forehead, sometimes straight, sometimes receding (two 
forms opposed to each other), the superciliary arches very project- 
ing, the superior border of the orbit jutting out above the inferior, 
the eyes black and sunken, the nose very hollowed out at the root, 
thick and broad at the base, but less crushed in than the negroes 
and Hottentots of Africa, and perhaps than the Yellow races. "^^ 

But the most important character of all, that which warrants our 
setting them apart as a distinct type, is their smooth hair, con- 
trasted with all the most perfect negro characters. The microscope 
confirms this distinction. On a transverse section it holds a middle 
place, in M. Pruner-Bey's figures, between the more or less round 
shape peculiar to the Yellow and American types, and the some- 
what elliptical form that we meet with in the Semitic races. It is 
therefore far from being of the long, elliptical, and flat form 
peculiar to the negro of Africa, the negrito, and the Papuan. 
Their stature would be sufficient of itself to prove that the present 
race is composed of two ancient races, whose stature might have 
been — the one about 1-600 metre, the other above 1*700. The 
maximum and minimum observed in the male have been 2*130 and 
1*447 respectively. Those which we might consider in India as of 
the same race are — (ct) The Bhils, "black, with small horizontal 
eyes, and with hair in long straight skeins;" {h) The Grhounds, 
" black, with flat nose, thick lips, and tufted, black, shining hair, 
falling down in straight skeins ; " (c) The Khounds, more or less 
black also ; {d) The Mahairs, " very black, superciliary arches 

* See " Journal of Discoveries in Central Australia in 1840-41, with an 
account of Aborigines/' by Eyre, London, 2 vols., 1843 ; " Discoveries in 
Australia," by Stokes, London, 2 vols., 1848 ; " Exped. in North-West and 
"West Australia," by G. Grey, London, 2 vols., 1840 ; " Yoyage au Port du 
Roi Georges," by Scott-Nind, in " Journal Royal Geograph. Soc," vol. i., 
1831 ; " On the Aborigines of West Australia," by A. Oldfield, in " Trans. 
Ethnol. Soc. London," vol. iii., 1865 ,• " ^Etudes sur les Races Indigenes de 
I'Australie," by P. Topinard, in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 1872; &c. 



€hap. XII.] AUSTRALIAN TYPE. 505 

projecting, small eyes, and flat nose ; " (e) The Varalis, &c. 
{L. Rousselet) ; (/) The Moundas, described by Eoubaud, who have 
the forehead low and receding, the nose thick and flat, the iris 
dark brown, the face wide and flat, the cheek-bones prominent, the 
incisor teeth vertical, a cephalic index of 75*6, and a stature of 
1*61 metre; {g) The Yenadis and Maravers of the coast of Coro- 
mandel ; and {h) The Veddahs of Ceylon, whose dolichocephaly of 
71*7 is equal to that of the Australians, and whose stature is 1*53. 
Last year a black of this group, a native of Pondicherry, was dis- 
sected in the Laboratory of Anthropology ; his black complexion, 
slightly tinged with chocolate, and his smooth, long, and shining 
hair, were very remarkable. His skeleton, as well as his bust, are now 
in the collection of M. BrocSi. Among the Todas of the Nilgherries, 
and, strangely enough, farther on towards the north, among certain 
of the Ainos, two of the fundamental Australian traits are met 
with ; namely, the very projecting superciliary arch and the 
abundant hair over the whole body — characters the more remark- 
able from the fact that the reverse is the rule through the whole of 
Eastern and Southern Asia. In the same Nilgherry hills, situated 
at the junction of the western and eastern Ghauts, towards the 
southern extremity of the Deccan, in the desired conditions for 
concealing the remnants of ancient races, two of the above-men- 
tioned tribes especially afford matter for reflection, namely, the 
Korumbas and the Irulas. The former have a black complexion, 
the hair long and wavy, black, and in tufts, the conjunctiva often 
injected, the iris dark brown (No. 1 in M. Broca's table of colours), 
the root of the nose hollowed out to the depth of 5 millimetres, the 
bridge of the nose depressed, the alaB wide, the nostrils gaping, the 
jaw and the teeth prognathous. Is not this an accurate portrait of 
the Australian % We may add that they are of low stature, like 
the Australian of the coast. It is true the beard is scanty, but 
exceptionally it is very abundant.^ 

"'^ See Jolin Shortt, " Memoirs on the Savage Tribes of Southern India,"" 
particularly those of the Coast and of the Mlgherries," in " Transactions 
Ethn. Soc, London," vols. i. ii. v. and vii. ; Ross King, " Sur les Tribus des 
Nilghiris," in "Revue d'Antlirop.," vol. ii. ; W. F. Marshall, "A Phreno- 
logist among the Todas," 1 vol., London, 1873. 



506 CONCLUSION. [Ch.vp. xii. 

Lastly, in the west, about Madagascar, and the point of Aden, 
in Africa, there are black tribes with smooth hair, or, at all events, 
large numbers of individuals who have it, mingled particularly 
among the Somalis and the Gallas, in the region where M. Broca 
has an idea that some dark and not negro race, now extinct, once 
existed. The Himyarites, in common with the Australian type, 
are black, with straight hair ; but the face is long, the nose aquiline 
and well shaped, and the lips thin and small : these are black 
Arabs. With regard to the Charruas and the ancient Calif ornians of 
America, Mr. Huxley himself would not wish to make Australoids 
of them.^ (See pages 481, 482). 

Conclusion. 

Our task is completed. "We have passed in review the differential 
characters of the Human Eaces, we have pointed out their most dis- 
tinctive types; we must jiow return to the question which was 
proposed at the close of our remarks on zoological anthropology. 
Is the human family composed of genera, of species, or of varieties % 
In other words, what interval separates its most natural divisions % 
We must state, at the onset, that a classification of these divisions 
and subdivisions would be premature. Classification supposes a 
science completed, and anatomical anthropology is almost in its 
infancy. A certain number of groups of races which merit the 
title of branches, and some particular races, are thoroughly defined, 
but this is all. Happily it is not necessary, for the solution of our 
problem, that we should know their value and their dependence the 
one upon the other. Some being well determined under conditions in 
which they now present themselves, to us are amply sufficient, and 
we have our choice in this respect. The sole difficulty arises from 
the confusion created by intermediate types, some due to crossing, 
others natural, and in a state of transition, such as we meet with 
in every degree in the animal series. Such are the Malays, the 
Chinese, the Dravidians, the Hottentots of the Cape, the Himyarites, 

■* "Les Peiiples de I'Arabie Meridionale," by Maltan, in " Zeitschr. fiir 
Ethnol.," 1873. 



Chap, xii.] CONCLUSION. 507 

the Abyssinians. Let us take, then, simple general types, as the 
White, the Yellow, and the Black with woolly hair ; or particular 
ones, such as those of the Scandinavian, the Semite, the Esquimau, 
the Mongol, the Kaffir, the Bosjesman, the ISTegrito. "What is the 
distance separating them ^ Let us leave the less palpable physio- 
logical traits, forget that ive have to do with Man, and proceed 
with physical characters as a naturalist would with a mammifer. 
We take up a treatise on ]N"atural History. The genus Ursus comes 
before us ; it belongs to the family of Plantigrades, order Carnivora, 
and is composed of fifteen or sixteen species. But, as in Man, 
many of these divisions are doubtful, or in a state of transition ; let 
us put them aside in the same way, and attach ourselves to the 
well-recognised types. Cuvier, the great authority in such matters, 
describes six principal species. The most common are the brown, 
bear of Europe, or Ursus ardos, the black bear of Korth America,, 
or Ursus Americaniis, and the white Polar bear, or Ursus maritimus. 
We exclude the prehistoric Cavern bear, or Ursus spelceus, from our 
consideration altogether. The first, says Cuvier, has the forehead 
convex, the hair brown, and more or less woolly in the young 
animal, becoming smooth with age. Its colour varies, as well as 
the relative length of its limbs. The second has the forehead flat, 
the hair black and smooth, the muzzle faAvn-coloured. The third 
has the head long and flat, and the hair white and smooth. Ac- 
cording to other naturalists, the bear of Europe has the trunk 
shorter than that of America, the soles of the fore and hind feet, 
shorter ; and the Polar bear, the hind-quarters higher, the muzzle 
tapering, and the claws less incurvated and shorter. If we are not 
very much mistaken, these characters neither belong to another 
order, nor are they more defined than those which we employ to 
distinguish the human types ; not only those the most widely 
separated from each other, but those wliich approximate sufficiently 
to induce us at once to consider them as secondary types. The 
long head of the white bear is our dolichocephaly. The convex, 
flat, or concave forehead (Ursus spelcaus) corresponds with the 
oblique forehead of the Neanderthal, the straight one of Cro- 
Magnon and Engis, or the high and bulging forehead of the 



508 CONCLUSION. [Chap. xii. 

ISTubian, tliree distinct races. Black, brown, or white hair ! Is it 
not thus that we separate oik blonde, brown, or red types ? The 
pointed muzzle is the analogue of our prognathism, or our small 
and narrow jaws as compared with the large and square ones. 
Differences of stature, and in the proportion of the body, are met 
with in the human races as well as in the bear species. In a 
word, there is less interval, as regards characters, between the Avhite 
and the brown bear than between the European and the negro. 

Let us take another example : The genus Bos, in which the 
commonest species are the ordinary ox, or Bos taurus ; the aurochs, 
or Bos uTsiis ; the bison, or Bos Americanus ; the buffalo, or Bos 
huhalus, &c. The specific character of the first, says Cuvier, is 
a flat forehead, longer than it is broad, and round horns placed 
at the two extremities of the projecting line which separates the 
forehead from the occiput. The second has the bulging forehead, 
broader than it is high, the horns inserted below the occipital 
crest, the limbs tall, a pair of supplementary ribs, a sort of crisp 
wool which covers the head and neck of the male, and forms 
a short beard under the throat. The third resembles the aurochs, 
but its limbs, and especially its tail, are shorter. The fourth has the 
forehead bulging, longer than it is broad, the horns directed side- 
ways, and showing in front a projecting longitudinal crest, &c. 

These are characters of the same order as our own : The shape of 
the skull, the abundance of hair on such or such region, its smooth 
or woolly nature, the mode of growth of the horns — organs similar 
to the hair — the proportions of the skeleton. The most important 
difference is in there being in the aurochs and the bison a pair of 
supplementary ribs. But steatopyga in the Bushwoman is an 
equivalent thing. A supplementary rib is not more astonishing, 
in an anatomical point of view, than that exaggerated mass of fat 
on the buttocks, and which corresponds, not absolutely, but to 
a certain extent, with the callosities of apes. Between the various 
species of anthropoid apes, between those of the genus chimpanzee 
for example, the differences are less pronounced than between 
the principal human races. Between the orang and the gorilla 
there is less distance than between the Australian and the Lap- 



Chap, xil] CONCLUSION. 509 

lander. We cannot say more. The distinctive characters of the 
jackal and the dog, the wolf and the fox, the horse and the mule, 
the zebra and the quagga, the camel and the dromedary, are scarcely 
more divergent, and are frequently less, than those of our types. 
The blonde Swede, with fair rosy complexion, light blue eyes, 
slender figure, orthognathous face, and large cranial capacity, is 
at a prodigious distance from the negro, with the sooty black com- 
plexion, the yellow sclerotic, the short and woolly hair, the prominent 
. muzzle, and the j)rojecting turned-up lips — from the Papuan, with 
similarly woolly hair, but long, growing in tufts, sometimes 
dishevelled, and forming a globular mass, much larger compara- 
tively than the mane of the bison — or the Eosjesman, with the 
yellow complexion, with lips of the orang, as Cuvier says, with 
nymphse reaching almost to the knee, and with deformed buttocks. 
On a single geographical point, a little island, what a difference 
there is between the Aino, with the projecting nose and long 
tufted hair over a great part of the body, and the Japanese, with 
the flat nose and smooth skin ! It is from skulls that we obtain 
the most startling evidence. Compare the skull of a JS'ew Caledonian 
of the Island of Pines, who has been exempt from crossing, one 
of the JSTamaquas of Delalande in the Museum, a certain Mongol 
skull brought by Dr. Martin from the desert of Gobi, a certain 
supposed Uzbek skull presented by M. de Khanikoff to the 
Societe d'Anthropologie, any Esquimau skull you please, and 
particularly one of those brought from Denmark to the Geo- 
graphical Congress — compare any of these with the skulls of 
Nubians, of Guanches, of Arabs, or those from the Caverne de 
I'Homme Mort. The differences are frequently most surprising, 
and greater than those recognised generally by naturalists between 
simple varieties ; they are even more in number than those which 
they admit between species. 

If it is so in mixed types, crossed by chance in every direction, 
and influenced by the external circumstances which have been 
bequeathed to us after fifty or a hundred thousand years perhaps, 
what shall we say of the pure types, when races lived in an isolated 
state, like the anthropoids of the Gaboon and of Borneo, and only 



510 CONCLUSION. [Chap. xii. 

crossed in-and-in 1 The forehead of the !N"eanderthal, and the jaw 
of La ]^aulette speak more eloquently than the flattening looked 
upon by Cuvier as a mark of separation between the bear of 
Europe and the bear of America. The platycnemic tibia, the femur 
a colonne, and the perforated humerus, were the appanage of pre- 
historic races which have disappeared, swallowed up, as it were, in 
Western Europe. The sagittal crest, which made its appearance 
sporadically among the primitive races of the south-west of Asia, 
as well as steatopyga among the Somalis, is the vestige of an - 
arrangement which has been characteristic in some ancient race 
absorbed about the same period. The most animal-like example of 
the skulls of the Island of Pines, so different from that which we 
now find among the negroes of New Caledonia, and that of certain 
Tasmanians, are a record of themselves. But enough for the 
present. Without the labour of analysis and reconstruction, it 
shows us directly that the anatomical and physiological contrasts 
between human types are greater than those admitted by naturalists 
between varieties, and as great as between species. The interval 
appears even to be greater in some cases, and to extend to that of 
genera. Thus, the four characters which distinguish the goat from 
the sheep are no other than those which separate certain great 
branches of the human family. 

We would not deduce from this that certain human groups are 
genera — ^this is for future consideration ; but we come to the con- 
clusion that at any rate they are species. The three following are 
in this category : (1) Brachy cephalic, with low stature, yellowish 
skin, broad and flat face, oblique eyes, with contracted eyelids, 
hair scanty, coarse, and (on section) round; (2) Dolichocephalic, 
with tall stature, fair complexion, narrow face, projecting on the 
median line, hair abundant, light-coloured, soft, and of somewhat 
elliptical form under the microscope; (3) More dolichocephalic, 
with black complexion, hair fiat, and rolled into spirals, very 
prognathous, the radius long, the buttocks prominent, the breasts 
(in the female) elongated, &c. 

One objection alone arises, namely, that all men are eugenesic, 
and certainly paragenesic ; in a word, that they may give origin in 



Chap, xii.] CONCLUSION. 511 

time to a fixed intermediate race, whilst in order to answer the 
classical definition of species, they onght to be agenesic. (See page 
195.) Eut in face of the fact that certain species of animals are also 
eugenesic and undoubtedly paragenesic, the objection falls to the 
ground. We confess that before coming to the conclusion that 
there is eugenesis between certain genera we must wait,* but between 
certain species it is beyond a doubt ; they give birth to offspring inde- 
finitely fertile, without the reversion towards one of the two primitive 
races having yet been established. It is of little consequence, 
therefore, that the ISTegro and White species are more or less homo- 
genesic ; they are no less species ; for the sole reason that their 
difi'erential characters have the value of those upon which we 
establish a basis in natural history for the creation of species. With 
regard to the question of monogenisni or polygenism, in the signi- 
fication given to it at the present day, it is absolutely foreign to the 
subject in debate. To sum up : The HUMA:N" FAMILY, the first 
of the ORDEE of Primates, is composed of SPECIES, or funda- 
mental human races, whose number and primordial characters form 
the subject of this the Second Portion of Anthropology. 

* We have spoken, at page 195, of a case of hybridity between genera, 
whicli might have occurred in the Department of Aisne. We had reason to 
speak with reserve. From positive information we have since received, we 
find that the thing did not take place. 



THIRD PAET. 

ON THE OEIGIN OY MAK 



2 L 



CHAPTER I. 

MONOGENISM OF M. DE QUATREFAGES POLYGENISM OF AGASSIZ 

TRANSFORMISM OF LAMARCK SELECTION OF MR. DARWIN 

THEIR APPLICATION TO MAN: HIS GENEALOGY, HIS PLACE IN 

NATURE. 

With regard to the position of Man in the Mammalian series, and 
the dignity of his races, we come to the general conclusion that 
they are distinct from the other problems which the knowledge of 
that Man implies. It matters hut little whether at a particular 
moment, sooner or later, the physical types had been genera, sjjecies, 
or varieties, and whether it is still so. What philosophers are 
curious to know is how they took their origin, whether suddenly 
and spontaneously at all points, or progressively and naturally 
from things which had pre-existed. 

At first naturalists and anthropologists took but little interest in 
all these questions. They worked without listening to dogmas 
taught outside their own sphere, their methods of investigation 
were carried on in temperate regions. According as the science of 
facts progressed, it became impossible for them any longer to be un- 
interested in the lofty views which gave to Newton and Humboldt 
so great a reputation, and which is not forbidden in any other 
branch of human knowledge. 

Two currents therefore are established regarding the Origin of 
Man leading to two different doctrines — the one orthodox, 77iono- 
genistic, affirming that all the human races are derived from one 
and the same stock, and have been produced by the influence of 

2 L 2 



516 OEIGIN OF MAN. [Chap. i. 

climate and external circumstances in tlie brief space of time that 
has elapsed since the creation of the world, according to the biblical 
version; the other revolutionary, jpolygenistic, maintaining that 
this lapse of time is insufficient, that the types are permanent under 
present conditions and as we now see them, and, consequently, that 
they must originally have been multiple. But the horizon has now 
changed; it is no longer a question of 5877 years, but of an 
incalculable number of ages, and what was false in the former case 
may be true in the latter. It is with the telescope that we must 
now search for the origin of man. Let us then look at the doctrines 
before us. We shall be brief, this work professing merely to be a 
resume of facts and of the methods of study relating to Anthro- 
pology. This Third Part does not strictly come within our plan, 
and is only supplementary. 

"We shall say nothing respecting the dissertations of meta- 
physicians on the essence of Man, the pre-established harmony 
between the body and mind, or the intelligent intervention of 
nature ; nor as regards the philosophers of a higher order. The 
following quotation will form the exception : *'•' In the necessary 
coiTrse of things," said Epicurus and Lucretius, " all possible com- 
binations take jplace, sooner or later, in the midst of complex 
conditions, which sometimes are more or less favourable to them, 
and sometimes contradict them, so that the results are as variable 
as can be according to the conditions of times and places, and 
the combination of those conditions." '^ 

We would willingly pass over in silence the explanations which 
we find at the foundation of all religious systems, if one of them — 
our own — had not been disputed by eminent anthropologists. In 
that concerning the book of Genesis, such as we find from the 
compilation of Esdras after the Babylonian captivity, two opinions 
present themselves to our notice. Some, believing themselves 
to be thoroughly orthodox, affirm that it is merely a question 
relating to the Semitic peoples, and particularly to the Jews ; they 
revive the arguments upon which, in 1655, Isaac de la Peyrere 

* " Sur le Transformisme," by Paul Broca, in " Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.," 
2nd series, vol. iv., 1870. 



Chap, i.] MONOGENISM. 517 

founded his doctrine of the Pre-Adamites/' and bid us to remember, 
for example, that God "set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding 
him should kill him," and go on to remark that, in chapter vi., 
the " sons of God " are represented as races of Adam, and the 
" sons of men " as non-Adamic races. Others, radical in their ortho- 
doxy, declare, on the contrary, that all races originally descended 
from a single pair — Adam and Eve — and consecutively from the 
three pairs saved from the Deluge ; that all the animal species are 
derived in the same way from pau's saved at the same time ; that 
the influence of climate and external circumstances soon manifested 
itself, and that subsequently came the diversity of languages. 
But Linnaeus had some doubts on the subject ; he was dissatisfied 
with regard to the exceptional character of the country which had 
supplied the wants of zoological species as opposed to one another 
as the polar bear and the tropical hippopotamus. Prichard repHed 
that it had to do with the supernatural, and hence, that a little 
more or a little less made no difference. This must be repeated to 
those who inquire whether Adam was Avhite, black (PricJiard), or 
red {Eusebius de Salles), or who make him a dolichocephale, while 
the Pre-Adamites should have been brachycephales {Staniland 
Wake). 

We pass on to the scientific doctrines. In the first place, we 
have that of M. de Quatrefages, who, without allowing himself 
to be distiKbed by influences foreign to science, strongly defends 
the doctrine of the unity of the human species, while thoroughly 
acknowledging its very great antiquity. He considers that zoo- 
logical species are unchangeable in their physical type, and circum- 
scribed by their character of homogenesis within their o^ti area, 
and of heterogenesis outside it.t Human races are only varieties 
arising from the influence of climate and external circumstances 
(milieux), and of crossing, and may be reduced to a small number, 

* " Praeadamitae," by Isaac de la Peyrere : Ed. Elzevier, Amsterdam, 1655. 

t " De I'Unite de I'Espece Humaine," 1 vol., Paris, 1869; "Rapport sur 
les Progres de rAnthropologie," Paris, 1869 ; " Le90iis Professees au 
Museum," in "Kevue des Cours Scientifiques," 1864-65, 1867-68, &c., by 
M. de Quatrefages. 



518 POLYGENISM. [Chap. i. 

all of whicli come from one and the same stock. Man was created 
in the beginning, in conditions to lis unknown, by the intervention 
of an extraneous force, or by a supreme will. M. de Quatrefages-, 
therefore, recognises but one human species, and in deference to 
man's elevated rank, and his character for religiousness, he con- 
cedes to him a place apart in the zoological series, under the name, 
proposed by Isidore G. Saint-Hilaire, of regne humain. 

The various arguments in favour of this doctrine have been 
examined in the course of this work. We merely remark that 
religiousness is not really peculiar to Man ; and that among men, 
whether individuals or races, many do not possess it; that the 
influence of external circumstances is but little, and does not — as 
far as we can see, and in the present state of things, as Geoffroy 
Saint-Hilaire said — succeed in producing a new physical character 
indefinitely transmissible ; that fecundity exclusively taking place 
between individuals of the same species is not the criterion of the 
species ; and, lastly, that the interval which physically separates the 
principal human types is equal to, if not sometimes greater than, that 
which separates and determines zoological species. The origin of 
species, Agassiz maintained, is lost in the obscurity of the first estab- 
lishment of the present state of things. Species are not strictly 
fixed within certain limits, nor determined by the faculty of indivi- 
duals of being fertile only intei^ se. Human races differ as much as 
certain families, certain genera, or certain species. They were pro- 
duced, in some independent way, on eight different points of the 
globe, or centres, which are as distinct in their fauna as in their 
flora. Agassiz admitted, nevertheless, the intervention, at every 
phase of the history of the world, of a superior will, operating 
by virtue of a preconceived plan."^ 

The third of these propositions, coming from a naturalist of such 
world-wide renown, has considerable weight ; and agrees with our 
own conclusions as anthropologists. As to his centres of creation, 
which he calls realms {des royaumes), their particular localisation is 
only justified, as regards some of them, by the flora and fauna 

* " Sketch of the Natural Provinces of the World," by Professor Agassiz, 
in " Types of Mankind," by Nott and Gliddon. Philadelphia, 1854. 



Chap, i.] TEANSFORMISM. 519 

generally, but not by Man : the Australian realm for example. To 
Ms Arctic realm, apparently so proper, it may be objected that it is 
now entirely peopled by men and animals which have been im- 
l^orted there, and that their conditions of existence were precisely 
identical at one time in the centre of France. The doctrine of 
M. de Quatrefages is classical monogenism, which must be dis- 
tinguished from the new monogenism of which we shall speak 
presently : that of Agassiz is a sj)ecial 2^olygenism. Both are 
allied to each other, in that they search into the secret of the 
formation of Man outside the known natural laws which regulate 
the universe. It is otherwise with the doctrine we are now about 
to speak of, namely — 

, Transformism. 

This is of French origin. The entire honour of its introduc- 
tion is due to A. Lamarck, although De Maillet and Eobinet had 
previously sketched out some of its traits. A species, Lamarck 
wrote in 1809,* varies infinitely, and, considered as regards time, 
does not exist. Species pass from one to the other by an infinity 
of transitions, both in the animal and vegetable kingdom. They 
originate either by transformation or divergence. By going back 
for ages, we thus come to a small number of primordial germs, or 
monads, the offspring of spontaneous generation. Man is no ex- 
ception to this; he is the result of the slow transformation of certain 
apes. The ladder to which we before compared the organic king- 
doms only exists, he says, as regards the principal masses. Species, 
on the contrary, are, as it were, the isolated extremities of the 
branches and boughs which form each of these masses. 

This striking hypothesis was the offspring of Lamarck's brain, at 
a time when the knowledge of natural history, palaeontology, and 
embryology was very imperfect, and upon which so vivid a light 
has since been shed. Kothing has been added to its principle : the 
ways and methods of transformation have been discussed, facts of 
observation have been supplied, genealogical tables of animated 

* " Philosophie Zoologique," by J. B. A. Lamarck, Professeur de Zoologie 
an Museum, Paris ; 1st edition 1809, 2nd edition 1873, in two volumes. 



520 • TEANSFORMISM. [Chap. i. 

beings have been proposed; but the foundation has remained 
intact both in Trance, in Germany, and in England. Lamarck, in 
that he was in advance of his time, and stood forward firmly in 
advocacy of his theory, showed himself to be a man of genius. The 
ways and methods of Lamarck may be summed up in a single 
sentence — the adaptation of organs to conditions of existence. 
Change in external circumstances, he says, obliges the animal 
placed in the presence of animals of greater strength, or in new 
conditions of life, to contract different habits, which produce an 
increased activity in certain organs, a diminution, or a want of 
exercise, in others. By virtue of the physiological law inherent in 
every organism, that the organ, or a certain part of the organ, 
diminishes or increases in proportion to the work that it performs, 
these organs become modified when submitted to new conditions. 
The internal power of the organism, dependent on the general 
function of nutrition which is called forth, is immense. The 
wants induced by external changes brought it into play. 

The doctrine in its entirety was too far in advance of the age 
to have the success which was its due. Cuvier, the advocate of 
the orthodox opinions of the time, had but little difficulty in 
stifling it in the cradle — Cuvier, who ridiculed the idea of the 
foundation of the Normal school, as well as the honorary title of 
eleve granted by the Convention to Lacepede. Notwithstanding 
this, however, the doctrine had its adepts. In France — Poiret, 
Bory de Saint- Vincent, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire ; abroad — Treviranus, 
Oken, Goethe. From the year 1818 Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire became 
its champion, and laid particular stress on the immediate effects 
on the body of external circumstances. Cuvier a second time 
resumed the discussion, and, in opposition to him, propounded his 
own doctrine on the periodical revolutions of the earth, of the 
renewal each time of the Mora and Fauna, and of the incessant 
and miraculous intervention of a creative will. The contention 
between these two powerful geniuses had to do yith the movement 
which ended in the Eevolution of 1830. Authority at last had the 
advantage, and in France transformism was vanquished. But the 
number of its proselytes increased from far and wide. The last 



Chap, l] DARWINISM. 521 

work of Gcjetlie was favourable to it. Botanists, especially, accepted 
the new doctrine — W. Herbert, P. Mathews, Lecoq, Hooker, Eafi- 
nesque, K'aiidin. Then the geologists — Omalius d'Halloy, Keys- 
serling, and other savants. L. Buch, Schaffhaiiser, Herbert Spencer, 
and Lyell had already cleared the way, by sapping at the foundation 
the theory of the periodical catastrophes of Cuvier, when Charles 
Darwin made his appearance, in 1859. 

This great naturalist was not vividly impressed by the views of 
Lamarck. His own ideas passed through his mind during his 
voyage round the world in the Beagle.'^ On his return to 
London, six years afterwards, he studied the results which were 
obtained by breeders on animals, and he devoted himself to make 
experiments, especially on pigeons. The subject of artificial selec- 
tion most occupied him, when one day he stumbled on the work 
" On Population," by Malthus. This was a streak of light ; the 
word which was to make the fortune of his theory was found — 
" the struggle for existence." 

By a singular coincidence, another English savant, Eichard 
Wallace, who had taken up Ms abode in Malaisia, forwarded to 
him at that moment a memoir, supported by facts, in which the 
same ideas were set forth. But Mr. Wallace, with his task hardly 
entered upon, recoiled before the consequ.ences of his labours when 
he perceived that they, of necessity, applied to Man. Charles 
Darwin, on the contrary, persevered, and it is with justice that his 
countrymen gave to his theory the name of Darwinism, a theory 
which should be thus defined : " J^atural selection, by the struggle 
for existence, applied to the transformism of Lamarck." 

We know that breeders and horticulturists obtain, almost at will, 
the new forms which they desire, by first selecting from one and the 
same species, then from the offspring of a first cross, then from 
those of the next crosses, and so on, individuals possessing in the 
highest degree the variety required. A new species is thus de- 
veloped, and by dint of perseverance, fixed. The divergences from 

* " Voyage d'un NaturaHste autour du Monde, a bord du Navire le 
Beagle, de 1831 a 1836," by Charles Darwin. Traduction de E. Barbier- 
Eeinwald. 



522 TRANSFORMISM. [Chap. r. 

the primitive type whicli are obtained are very strange. They have 
to do with colour, form of the head, the proportions of the skeleton, 
the configuration of the muscles, and even with the habits {moeurs) 
of the animal. Sir John Sebright undertook to produce in three 
years a certain feather in a bird, and in six years a certain form of 
beak or head. In this consists " artificial selection/' as it is effected 
by the intelligent hand of Man on 'animals in a state of domestica- 
tion. But is not the same result sometimes produced naturally in 
wild animals ? Mr. Darwin affirms it, by substituting for the hand 
of Man the chance circumstance derived from vital competition 
{concurrence). 

Competition is a general law of the universe^ — it is exerted 
between physical forces, between beings of the two kingdoms, 
between men, between peoples. Under the name of " struggle for 
existence " it is even useful ; without that, there would soon be a 
retardation of everything upon the face of the earth. It has been 
calculated that a single pair of elephants — the slowest of all animals 
to breed — would produce, barring all restraints, fifteen millions of 
young in five hundred years. Derham, quoted by Boudin, speaks 
of a woman, who died at 93 years of age, as having 1298 children, 
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Malthus has proved that 
population increases in a geometrical ratio, while the resources of 
that population only augment in an arithmetical ratio. The law 
of the stronger predominates everywhere — the large devour the 
small ; those the best protected by their organisation, the best pro- 
vided with means of attack or of resistance to external agencies, 
survive the longest ; the more numerous they are, and the longer they 
live, the more they multiply and establish a stock in preference to 
those who are less favoured. 

Spontaneous variability is another element of the Darwinian 
theory. Two individuals of the same species, or of the same 
family, do not resemble each other in every respect ; they differ by 
characters of no value, or by characters which give them an ad- 
vantage in the struggle over those whose wants, or conditions of 
climate, food, and external circumstances of every sort are the 
same. The animal with a protective-coloured skin, that is one 



Chap, i.] SELECTION. 523 

like the ground upon which he is moving, will better escape his 
enemies. In one of Darwin's works there is a very curious ex- 
ample of this kind in butterflies. The animal with the thick fur 
will be under more favourable circumstances at the poles, the one 
with the sleek skin at the equator. Every advantage acquired 
from birth, and therefore more easily transmissible in consequence, 
places the individual in a better condition for resistance to causes 
of destruction and to sterility. It follows, then, that certain 
individuals are, as it Avere, selected, chosen by a natural process 
which replaces the agency of Man in artificial selection ; and that 
these individuals are precisely those who are separated the most 
from others by some new character. The thing being repeated for 
many generations, the divergences become marked, the tendency 
to "inheritance increases, and new types are formed, farther and 
farther removed from the point of departure. It follows, also, 
that wherever an ensemble of conditions exhibits itself, which 
allows a divergence to be developed without being stifled by rival 
divergences, it will take its place in the series of beings, and 
possibly form one for the occupation of a zoological species. One 
difference between artificial and natural selection is in the time 
they require for a transformation to become confirmed. In the 
former nothing is left to chance ; matters progress rapidly, but the 
types are not thoroughly fixed, and rea"dily revert to the primitive 
type. In the latter we must reckon by ages, chance also inter- 
vening, for the destruction of that which has commenced only to 
be completed. The results once obtained are more stable. Be- 
tween the methods set forth by Lamarck and those of Darwin 
there are important differences. As regards the former, the point 
of departure of transformation is in the external circumstance 
which modifies the way of living and creates new habits, new 
wants, which induce a change in the nutrition and structure of 
organs. For the latter, the point of departure is in the superiority 
that procures for the individual some advantage in the daily 
struggle. Lamarck considers that variation is effected gradually in 
the course of existence. Darwin, that it appears spontaneously at 
birth, or rather during embryonic life. To the process of selection 



524 TRANSFORMISM. [Chap. i. 

by vital competition, Mr. Darwin adds selection Ly sexual com- 
petition, which, depends on the will, on the choice and vitality of 
the individuals, and especially affects the males.* 

The Germans, who have vigorously espoused the cause of 
transformism, particularly Hseckel, recognise two orders of methods. 
They give to those of the French school, including changes of 
life and habits, of food and climate, training, the excess or want 
of use of organs, the name of phenomena of direct adaptation ; and 
to those of the English school, that is to say, to congenital 
characters, the name of phenomena of i7idired adaptation. En- 
deavours have been made to see whether there may not be other 
processes of formation of species. According to the doctrine of 
Darwin, the new character pre-exists in the germ, and depends 
on the influence of the parents even before conception. According 
to Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the action of climate and external circum- 
stances is not confined to its exercise upon the individual in 
the course of existence, it may equally make itself felt in the 
germ in progress of development, and produce varieties, sometimes 
monstrosities. Such would be the origin of the race of gnato 
oxen of La Plata. In the above processes it is only a question as 
i>o slow transformations. We might also have sudden transforma- 
tions. "An accident which it is not necessary to mention," writes 
E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, " trifling at its origin, but of incalculable 
importance in its effects, has been sufficient to change the inferior 
■type of oviparous vertebrata into an ornithological type. The 
process of M. Kolliker would be equally an accident, taking for 
his p)oint de depart the various degrees of geneagenesis and the 
succession of forms in the development of the embryo. He thinks 
that beings may produce other beings separated from their parents 
by characters of species, genus, and even of class. He bases his 
theory on that which takes place sometimes in inferior forms, 
,and supposes, as regards the superior, that a normal egg may 

* " La Descendance de rHomme et la Selection Sexuelle," by Ch. Darwin j 
-translated into Frencli, 2nd edition, Paris, 1873. See also " L'Origine des 
Especes et de la Yariation des Animaux et des Plantes sous I'Action de la 
Domestication," by the same. 



Chap. I.] GKADATION OF FOEMS. 525 

go past the period of its ordinary development, and give origin to 
a higher organisation. These theories and processes concern the 
two organic kingdoms. The limits of this work do not allow 
of our entering into the subject further, and we must confine 
ourselves to Man. Do they apply to Man, as well as to animals ? 
Evidently they do, or they are false : laws are uniform. As we 
said in the early part of this work, the Primates form the first 
natural group of the order of Mammalia, thanks to a certain 
number of characters common to them and to the succeeding 
orders. Moreover, this group presents numerous points of contact 
with the latter, and, in the series of families of which it is 
composed, an ascending gradation of types is observed, becoming 
more and more perfect. Thus, at the bottom of the scale we have 
the Lemurs, some of which are allied to the Insectivora, others 
to the Cheiroptera, and even to the Marsupialia ; above them the 
Cebians, many of whose genera are lemurs in a state of transition ; 
then the Pithecians, some species of which seem derived from 
Cebians. Afterwards, the anthropoid apes make their appearance, 
separated by a sensible interval, if one of them, the Gibbon, did 
not diminish it, owing to his numerous features of resemblance to 
the Pithecians. At the summit is Man, many of whose types 
approximate in many of their features to the Anthropoids. 

Their differences, indeed, may be thus summed up : (1) There 
are modifications of form connected with the decidedly vertical 
attitude of Man and the oblique attitude of the Anthropoid ; (2) 
The more perfect adaptation of the foot and hand to their respective 
functions of locomotion and prehension in Man ; (3) The volume 
of the brain, Avhich is three times as large, or more, in Man, thus 
causing a corresponding activity of the organ, and a proportionate 
development of all its functions; namely, language, observation, 
judgment, &c. The continuity, on the one hand, of the inferior 
order of Mammalia with the superior order of Primates, and in this 
latter of its inferior family of Lemurs with its superior family of 
Man passing through the Anthropoids more nearly akin to Man 
than to the Pithecians ; and, on the other hand, the continuity 
of certain human races with others rising higher and higher in 



526 TEANSFORMISM. [Chap. i. 

the scale are clearly the result of this. Moreover, between one 
type and another, sufficiently recognised for naturalists to make 
them the representatives of special groups, whether of order, 
family, genus, or species, some variation of the organ, or some 
"bastard species, almost always comes in to establish the transi- 
tion. Natura non facit saltum. It might be said that a creative 
force had been at work, step by step, leaving its track behind 
it, and that groups are due to the periods of repose during which 
that force was in operation on a certain spot, with a view the 
better to increase the number of forms. AVhen Lamarck supposed 
that Man was the issue of the chimpanzee, his mind was atten- 
tively engaged in observing both the family of Primates in 
particular and the animal kingdom in general. The rudimentary 
organs in Man, or vestiges of perfectly useless organs — like the 
ilio-caecal appendix — which are well developed in other species 
among the Mammalia, and the unusual appearance of organs, like 
the supplementary mammae, or conformations peculiar to other 
animal species, furnish so many arguments in favour of transfor- 
mation. On no other hypothesis are they to be explained. They, 
may be phenomena of atavism, of remote reminiscences, of facts of 
reversion. (See page 127.) Embryology would also be favourable 
to the doctrine. (See page 129.) ''The series of diverse forms 
which every individual of a species passes through," says Hseckel, 
" from the early dawn of his existence, is simply a short and rapid 
recapitulation of the series of specific multiple forms through which 
his progenitors have passed, the ancestors of thS existing species, 
during the enormous duration of the geological periods."* A 
series of teratological cases, entering into the arrests, and even into 
the perversions of development, of the embryo, are thus explained. 
Hare-lip, polydactilia, microcephaly, are, as it were, hesitations of 
the principles of evolution, attempts on its part to stop at points 
where it had rested in anterior forms, or to progress in other pre- 
viously-followed directions. Human palaeontology does not reach 

* "Histoire de la Creation des Etres Organises d'apres les Lois Naturelles," 
by E. Hseckel. French translation. Paris, 1874. 



Chap. I.] ADAPTATION OF ORGANS. 527 

back sufficiently far for us to found any arguments upon it : it 
should pass beyond the last or quaternary period. The most 
ancient human fossil of this period, however, is favourable to the 
idea of a derivation of man from the anthropoid. 

Direct proofs as to transformism are not wanting. In so far 
as Man is concerned, the matter is clear ; but rational proofs, as 
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire said, are abundant. Transformism imposes 
itself as a necessity : everything is as if things had thus taken 
place ; or man was created out of nothing, by enchantment ; or he 
proceeds from that which existed previously. But what are we 
to think as to the mode ? Those of direct adaptation of organs to 
life are so rational, they are so conformable to the general laws of 
physiology, that it would be unwise to reject them positively. Of 
course we have never seen a White changed into a Black, nor 
smooth hair into woolly ; but in time, by passing through inter- 
mediate races produced by crossing, there is no proof that the 
phenomena might not have taken place. We are too exacting. 
Prichard was anxious to prove that Whites might make their 
appearance spontaneously among I^Tegroes. All his arguments were 
wrong, in that he entirely left out of sight the way in which races 
have become removed from place to place. But we are not at all 
sure that his aspirations, if better supported, might not now 
triumph. The brain increases in volume, and its convolutions in- 
crease in richness, in proportion to the degree of activity of which 
they are the seat, bringing in their train a series of subordinate 
craniological characters. I^utrition and external circumstances 
may in the same way cause the stature and colour of individuals to 
vary as well as the proportions of the body. La fdnction fait 
Vorgane of Lamarck is a demonstrative fact. When a muscle is 
paralysed, it becomes atrophied, the osseous eminences in which it 
is inserted disappear, the skeleton becomes deformed. In persons 
'who have lost a limb by amputation, the nerves, having become 
useless, progressively become atro]3hied from their extremity to 
their central point in the brain {Luys). The digestive tube is 
dilated, and the beUy becomes large in those who are large eaters 
of vegetable food. All the difficulty is in the transmission of 



528 TEANSFORMISM. [Chap, i, 

the acquired individual cliaracter ; clearly, facts are at fault here. 
There is no proof, however, that the tribe of Akkas is not indebted 
for its diminutiveness to the fact of inheritance fixing accidental 
characters. If the albinos are as common among the Monbouttous 
as Dr. Schweinfiirth states, the question is, whether circumstances 
being favourable, a new species may not some day start up. Sup- 
posing in that country, through some catastrophe, the temperature 
and radiation should be suddenly lowered, many would die, but 
the survivors would have a better chance of thriving. In poly- 
dactilia, supposing crossing outside the family did not counteract 
inheritance, transmission, now limited to five generations, according 
to the facts hitherto mentioned, would certainly go beyond. 

Let us pass on to the methods of indirect adaptation of Mr. 
Darwin. Vital competition is a thing which must not be con- 
founded with selection. It exists, no matter how we apply it, 
between individuals, as between societies and races. We have 
before us the fact of races inferior in the struggle becoming extinct. 
The Charruas, the Caribs, the ancient Californians, the Tasmanians, 
no longer exist ; the Australians, the ]!*^egritos, the Esquimaux, are 
fast following them. The Polynesian, the American Indians, Avill 
soon be in their wake, if they have no chance of surviving except 
by crossing. The superior races, on the contrary, thrive and in- 
crease. It is easy to foretell the moment when the races which now 
decrease the interval between the White man and the Antliropoid 
shall have entirely disappeared. 

There is nothing mysterious in this extinction ; its mechanism is 
altogether natural (see page 41 3). The result will be the survivance 
of those most adapted to benefit the superior races. But at one 
time, in Australia, in Malaisia, in America, and in Europe it was 
not so. These very races which now are succumbing, were superior 
relatively to others which no 'longer exist. The Australians of the 
present, whom we look upon as savages, have a civilisation con- 
formable to their external condition, a certain social organisation — 
in relation to the Negritos of the interior of the Philippines, for 
example. We think we have proved that they have ejected a 
negro race inferior to themselves, as we now eject them. The 



Chap, i.] APPLICATION TO MAN. 629 

wandering aborigines of Western Australia, described by Scott 
Mnd, are tbe remnants of this race. In our own country, tbe 
races of the Perigord, which have disappeared before, or become 
absorbed into, the brachycephalic races from the East and the 
blondes from the !N"orth, have played the same part before the races 
anterior to the ISTeanderthal as these probably did to the Miocene 
races of Thenay and Saint-Prest. In these successive extinctions, 
which exhibit to us series of generations, strata of more and more 
perfect races succeeding and replacing each other, do we not recog- 
nise the selection by vital competition of Mr. Darwin 1 But where 
is the character which gives the advantage in the struggle ? Among 
animals, and during the first ages of the human race, the power 
which enabled them the better to defend themselves against other 
living beings, and against changes of climate and external con- 
ditions, was necessarily of a physical kind, such as quick-sighted- 
ness, more acute smell, more vigorous muscles, a constitution better 
adapting itself to cold or heat, to marsh miasm, or to certain kinds 
of diet. If Man acclimates tolerably well now, it must not be for- 
gotten that he owes the power, in a great measure, to the processes 
which he makes use of. Formerly he must have succumbed, or his 
constitution must have been modified. We speak here especially of 
sudden acclimation. But from the period when societies were 
formed, and moral force took its legitimate supremacy over brute 
force, the advantage remained with the most skilful, the most 
industrious — in a word, with the most intelligent. Selection, from 
henceforth, was made to the advantage of a single organ. The 
largest brains — those with the richest convolutions, aiid with the 
most delicate structure, with the most appropriate f histological 
elements — were the most favoured. Hence a state of progress 
which is undeniable. The process of Mr. Darwin has, therefore, 
had its effect in the past, as it has now in the present. With 
appropriate institutions we might direct it, and accelerate its already 
so remarkable results. 

The 'external circumstances of Lamarck must, in fact, have an 
action of whose mechanism we know nothing. The selection of 
Mr. Darwin has one of which we are certain. With the latter we 

2 M 



530 THE PEECURSOR OF MAN. [Chap. i. 

reckon by strata of races, witli the former we must do the same. 
The characters which we now see permanent in a given race are 
not the more so when we compare a succession of races. 

Absolute immobility nowhere exists, and fixity of species is 
only relative. May there not be other processes contributing to 
gradual transformation 1 Certainly not. > There are three orders of 
characters which transformism explains, says M. Broca, some of 
evolution, others of improvement, a third serial. But there is a 
fourth, the unimportant, the key to which he does not give. Such 
are the presence of the os intermedium of the carpus, the absence 
of a nail on the great toe, and the absence of a round ligament in 
the hip-joint, peculiar to the orang-outang among Anthropoids. 
Why, how, and when, did these characters take their origin ? 

Another objection is that, in going back in the past, we do not 
find human races differing much from the races of the present; that 
we do not find, for example, men with half the cranial capacity of 
those of the present. But do we discover the Pliocene Man and 
the Miocene Man by the flint implements of Saint-Prest and 
Thenay 1 The former made use of fire, the latter did not : is not 
this a reason for suspecting that the fact of the volume of his brain 
being less was the cause 1 If he was unacquainted with fire he 
ought not to have the sense to bury his dead. The Anthropoids 
are in this condition, and we have none of their remains. Probably 
also, human bones do not last for so immeasurably prolonged a 
period. However, on surveying the road travelled over, and the 
discoveries made during the last fifteen years, we must not despair. 
Is it not by chance, when making a road or a railway cutting, or 
after a land-slip, or an earthquake, that discoveries of this kind are 
made 1 Here a man of intellect, and one interested in the subject, 
should be at hand. 

JSTow, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and even the greater part of Europe, 
are still as it were virgin soils. Perhaps, also, the stratum in which 
is now lying the precurseur, not possessing language, announced by 
G. de Mortillet and Hovelacque is at present submerged ; perhaps 
he has only existed on a very limited point of the globe. Some 
day or other he may present himself before us under the form of a 



Chap. I.] THE PRECURSOR OF MAN. 531 

skeleton stranded upon some bank of time, as at Grenelle; cruslied 
tinder a rock, as at Langerie-Haute ; or embedded in lava, as at 
Denise. 

The derivation of Man from some previously-existing form 
being admitted, the question is what this form may have been. 
Lamarck believed it to have been a chimpanzee. We have seen 
that each of the three great Anthropoids approaches more or less 
to Man in certain characters, but not one possesses them all. So 
in the inferior races ; no one race, not even the Bosjesman, is 
specially marked out as descending from an anthropoid — they are 
only made to approach more or less by such or such a character. 
The precursor of Man, then, is only analogous to the Anthropoids. 
The human type is an improvement upon the general type of their 
family, but not of one of their known species in particular. 

M. Haeckel does not express an opinion on this point. He asks 
whether the dolichocephales of Europe and Africa are not derived 
from the chimpanzee and the gorilla of the coasts of Guinea, both 
of which are dolichocephales ; and whether the brachycephales of 
Asia do not descend, on the contrary, from the brachycephalic 
orangs of Borneo and Sumatra. Many reasons lead to the belief, 
indeed, that all the dolichocephales are originally from Europe and 
Africa, and the brachycephales from Eastern Asia, not to speak of 
the old continent of Asia. M. Yogt thinks otherwise. He thinks 
that Man is only cousin-german to the anthropoid, and that the 
ancestor common to them both is farther off still. Here M. Hseckel 
speaks positively. He says that this very remote ancestor is an 
ape of the old continent, a Pithecian, which was itself derived from 
a Lemur, and this in its turn from a Marsupial. He even gives it 
the name of Lemurien — a term borrowed from Mr. Sclater ; and, as 
the focus of this series of transformations, a continent now sub- 
merged, of which Madagascar, Ceylon, and the Sunda islands are 
the remains. 

But what becomes, in all this, of the old dispute between mono- 
genists and polygenists % It no longer has any interest, and, to be 
brief, may be summed up as follows : As to the question of the 
most elementary human types to which we might go back, types 

2 M 2 



532 GENEALOGY OP MAN. [Chap. i. 

utterly irreducible, whatever their value of genera or species, in the 
sense usually applied to those words, are they the issue of many 
Anthropoid ancestors, Pithecoids or others ; or are they derived from • 
a single stock, represented by a single individual of their genera 
now known, or not 1 The anthropological data given in this work 
appear to us more favourable to the former opinion, if we accept 
the transformation theory. The most characteristic races, whether 
living or extinct, do not form one single ascending series, such as 
may be compared to a ladder or a tree, but, reduced to their simplest 
expression, to a series of frequently parallel lines. 

We shall conclude by giving a resume of the possible genealogy 
of Man, according to Haeckel. Equally relying on comparative 
anatomy, palaeontology, and embryology, the learned professor of 
zoology at the University of Jena thus gives his views on the 
subject of evolution : 

At the commencement of what geologists call the Laurentian 
period of the earth, and of the fortuitous union of certain elements 
of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, under conditions which 
probably took place only at that epoch, the first albuminoid clots 
were formed. From them, and by spontaneous generation, the first 
cellules or cleavage-masses took their origin. These cellules were 
then subdivided and multiplied, and arranged themselves in the 
form of organs, and after a series of transformations, fixed by 
M. Hseckel at nine in number, gave origin to certain vertebrata of 
the genus Ampliioxus lanceolatus. The division into sexes was 
marked out, the spinal marrow and chorda dorsalis became visible. 
At the te7itli stage, the brain and the skull made their appearance, 
as in the lamprey; at the eleventh, the limbs and jaws were 
developed, as in the dogfish : the earth was then only at the 
Silurian period. At the sixteenth, the adaptation to terrestrial 
life ceased. At the seventeenth, which corresponds to the Jurassic 
phase of the history of the globe, the genealogy of Man is raised 
to the kangaroo among the Marsupials. At the eighteenth^ he 
becomes a Lemurian : the Tertiary epoch commences. At the 
nineteenth, he becomes Catarrhinian, that is to say an ape with a 
tail, a Pithecian. At the twentieth, he becomes an Anthropoid, 



Chap. I.] GENEALOGY OF MAK 533 

continuing so throughout the whole of the Miocene period. At 
the twenty-first, he is the man-ape, he does not yet possess language, 
nor, in consequence, the corresponding brain. Lastly, at the 
twenty-second, Man comes forth, as we now see him, at least 
in his inferior forms. Here the enumeration stops. M. Haeckel 
forgets the twenty-fhird stage, that in which the Lamarcks and 
Newtons make their appearance. Although having attained so 
lofty an eminence, Man must have had a very low origin, in no 
way differing from that of the first and most simple organic cor- 
puscles. What he is now in the womb, he would have been 
permanently on making his appearance in the animal series. 

This theory is painful and revolting to those who delight to 
surround the cradle of humanity with a brilliant aureole \ and if we 
were to boast of our genealogy and not of our actions, we might 
indeed consider ourselves humiliated. But what is this new 
restraint to our amour-pro]pi'e in comparison with that which 
astronomy has abeady imposed % When the earth was fixed in the 
centre of the system, and it was thought that the universe was 
created for the earth, and the earth for Man, our pride ought to have 
been satisfied. This doctrine, called by the Germans " geocentric," as 
applied to the earth, and " anthropocentric," as applied to Man, was 
perfectly co-ordinate j but it fell to the ground the moment it was 
demonstrated that the earth is only the humble satellite of a sun 
which itself is but one of the luminous points in space. It was 
then, and not now, that Man was truly recalled to humility. It was 
no longer for him that the sun rose each morning, that the celestial 
vault was nightly bespangled with innumerable resplendent orbs. 
Out of all this Macrocosm there was but one lowly planet left to 
Man. Like that peasant who dreamt that he was ruler of the world, 
and woke up to find himself in a simple cottage, it was not without 
regret that he saw himself thus degraded. Long the remembrance 
of his vanished dream troubled his thoughts; but he was obliged to 
be resigned, to become accustomed to the reality; and now he 
consoles himself, as he is no longer this monarch of creation, with 
the thought that he is really sovereign of the earth. This undoubted 
royalty he has a right to be proud of. But in what way is it 



534 CONCLUSION. [Chap. i. 

threatened or diminislied by the transformation theory ? Would it 
be less real if he had brought it under subjugation by himself or 
inherited it from his first ancestors % Far from depreciating Man 
and his origin, the doctrine of Lamarck dignifies and ennobles them, 
by substituting for the theory of the supernatural the theory of the 
mutability and natural evolution of organic forms. 

Eut, after all, what matter to science the regret or complacency 
of some people % Its aims and designs are beyond their compre- 
hension. Man is not at liberty to put or not to put a curb upon 
the functional activity of his brain; his spirit of inquiry is the 
most noble, the most irresistible of his attributes; and as M. Gabriel 
de Mortillet said at the meeting of the Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, his characteristic is here, and not in religiousness. 
Eor want of knowledge the imagination muses upon the unknown, 
and forms it to our own ideal. But to true observers the reality is 
sufi&cient; they contemplate the magnificent spectacle which is 
opening out before them ; they even worship nature in its beauty, 
its grandeur, its harmony, and its thousand varieties of form and 
movement. The animal has the simple notion of cause and effect, 
and sees that the boundary of his faculties and senses is limited. 
Man alone investigates and wills ; his horizon is indefinite, like his 
intellectual faculties when they are exercised without trammel. 

Let us not, therefore, seek to contract the circle of knowledge. Is 
it not knowledge which has conducted us step by step, age after age, 
to the degree of prosperity we now enjoy 1 Is it not this which 
engenders civilisation, which adds to our well-being, brings to 
us the purest satisfaction, instructs us in philosophy, and secures 
our supremacy over everything on our planet ? Each one has his 
task to perform in this immense sphere. To some is given subjects 
of study relating to the progress of life ; to others its realities. Let 
the former have for their object the development in society of 
ideas of justice, honour, and morality, without which it cannot 
exist. The means are within their power. Our part is to ascertain 
facts, to deduce from them laws, and to look at them calmly, 
without allowing ourselves to be carried away by our feelings. 
Whatever may be his origin, whatever his future destiny, Man, 



Chap, i.] CONCLUSION. 535 

io the anthropologist, is but a Mammifer, whose organisation, 
wants, and diseases are in the highest degree complex; whose 
brain, with its admirable functions, have reached the highest 
development. As such, he is subject to the same laws as the rest 
of the animal creation; as such, he is a participator in their 
destinies. 



INDEX. 



"Abajous" ... ... ... 96 

Abassians ... ... ... 452 

Ahyssinians ... ... 387, 507 

Acclimation ... ... ... 392 

Accras ... ... ... ... 487 

Acrocephaly 176 

Adamawa negroes ... ... 487 

Adaptation of organs to mi- 

lieux... ... ■ ... ... 527 

Affghans ... 241, 386, 448 

Agenesis 369 

Age of skeleton 128 

Agglutinative languages -.-, 423 

Aigtas 499 

A%nos 242, 304, 350, 431, 476, 504 



Alckas 


... 322 


Albinos 


... 161 


Aleutians 


242, 473 


Alienation, Mental ... 


... 163 


AUophyle Eaces 


... 202 


Alsatians 


241, 474 


Altai, Kalmuck of the 


... 254 


Alveolar arch 


35, 59 


,, point 


35, 234 


Alveolo-condylean plane 


55, 267 


„ -sub-nasal prognathism 281 


AmoTcosah 


... 490 


Ama-Xosas 


... 320 


Ama-Zulus 


426, 490 


Americans 211, 231, 


334, 398, 




404, 479 


Ancient Britons 


231, 241 


Andamans 242, 423, 


445, 499 


Angles, Craniometrica! 


, in 


general 


... 283 


Angle, Auricular 


... 291 



PAGE 

Angle, Basilar, of Broca 54, 285 
of condyles, Ecker . . . 294 
Corono-faoial, of Gra- 

tiolet 291 

Cranio-f acial, of Ecker 

and Huxley ... 292 

Endo-cranial, of Broca 294 

Facial, of Camper 42, 286 

,, of Cloquet 41, 44 

,, of Geoffroy 

Saint-Hilaire 42 

,, of Jacquart ... 43, 

286, 330 

Frontal 275 

of inclination of cra- 

niometrical planes 267 
of lower jaw 135, 262 

Metafacial, of Serres 291 
Naso-basal, of Welcker 255 
of neck of femur . . . 142 
Occipital, of Broca 53, 285 
,, of Dauben- 

ton 63, 284 

Orbital 57 

Parietal, of De Quatre- 

fages 288- 

of prognathism 280, 282 

of Segond 47 

Sphenoidal, of Welcker 292 

of supination of radius 75, 77 

Symphysian . . . ... 262 

of torsion of humerus 75 
Annamites ... ... 311, 338 

Annular deformation of skull 182 

„ protuberance ... 102 

Anomalies 126, 160^ 



INDEX. 



537 



Antelme's cephalometer 



296 
454 

Auteversion of processes of 
vertebrae ... ... ... 64 

Antisians ... ... 345, 391 

Anthropoid apes 24, 45, 48, 50, 56, 

64, 78, 85, 90, 117, 187, 290, 293 

Anthropological societies, 



PAGE. 

Anstraloids 201, 447 

Austrians 242, 311 

Auvergnians 211, 230, 249, 285, 

288, 327, 460' 

Axis, Cerebro- spinal ... ... 101 

Aymaras ... 183,387,481 

Aztecs, Microcephales, called 166 



Foundation of 17 


Balmlais 487 


Anthropologists 1 


Bamharras 488- 


Anthropology, Definition of... 2 


Bantou languages ... 426, 490 


„ Division of ... 18, 25 


Bardhras ... ... ... 485' 


,, Applications of ... 10 


Basion 32,234, 238 


„ Biological 364 


Basques 230, 244, 249 257, 259, 


,, History of 13 


286, 327, 444 


„ Zoological 25 


Bassoutos 490 


„ Kelations of, with art 12, 


BattaTis 477 


315 


Bavarians 241, 398 


„ ,, ethnography 7, 419 


Beak of the encephalon 115, 295 


„ ethnology 8, 25, 417 


Bechuanas 490- 


„ history 13, 427 


Begharmi negroes 487 


,, ,, linguistics ... 423 


Beiges 459 


Anthropometry 81 


Belgians ...319, 329, 334, 336 


Aphasia ... 109 


Berbers 321, 334, 415, 447, 461 


Aphemia 109, 157 


Bhils 456, 504. 


Appendix, Yermicular ... 96 


Birmese 241, 254 


,, Xyphoid 70 


Blondes 347, 449 


Aqueduct of Sylvius 115 


Blood, Circulation of 401 


Aquitanians 444, 459 


Blumenbach's norma verticalis 214, , 


Arabs ... 274, 394, 463, 486 


264, 448 


Araucanians ... ... ... 321 


Body, Development of ... 128 


Arch, Alveolar ... 35,59 


Weight of 398 


„ Forms of ... 260 


Boers 393 


Arches, Superciliary... 33, 210 


Bohemians 394 


Archencephales 116 


Boomerang 421 


Archaeology, Prehistoric ... 434 


Bornii negroes 487 


Armenians ... ... ... 457 


Boronos ... ... ... 453 


Art, Relations of Anthro- 


Bosjesmans 247, 281, 304, 345, 493 


pology with ..» 12, 316 


Bosnians ... ... ... 454 


Aryans 424, 430 


Bosses, Frontal 33, 210, 275 


Ashantis 487 


„ Occipital 211 


Aspect of skulls 214 


„ Parietal 210 


Assinihoins 480 


Botocudos 183, 321 


Assyrians 358, 462 


Boulus 487 


*'Asterion" 238 


Boundary riders 382 


Atavism 380 


Brachycephali ...• ... 238 


Athahascans ... ... ... 453 


Brachystocephali 238 


Auricular angle ... 277, 299 


Brahmans 456- 


„ foramen 33 


Brain ... 102, 309 


„ point 234, 238 


„ Measurement of ... 125 


„ radii 270 


Weight of ... 120,309" 


Australians ... 375, 414, 501 


Breasts, The 100, 362. 



INDEX. 



Bregma 


PAGE 

... 234 


Bretons 230, 241, 327, 348, 459 


Breyzad language 


... 459 


Britons, Ancient 


231, 241 


Broca's occipital crochet 


... 209 


„ goniometer ... 


... 330 


„ stereograph. ... 


... 268 


Bronze Age 


... 422 


Brown Kaces .., 


... 453 


Bugis 


254, 477 


Bulgarians 


242, 430 


Burgundians, Ancient 


324, 443 


Bussahirs, or Bishari 


345, 452 



Caecum ... ... ... 96 

Cafusos ... 166, 352, 381 

Calabar negroes ... ... 487 

Calcaneum 36, 307 

Caledonians, New ... ... 495 

Calf of the leg 93 

Calif ornioms ... ... 345, 481 

Callipers 232 

Callosities of buttocks in 
apes ... ... ... ... 94 

Camper's facial angle 42, 286 

Cannibalism ... ... ... 419 

Cannon bone ... ... ... 40 

Canstadt, Eace of 437 

„ skulls 439 

Capacity of skull 48 

,, Mode of proceeding 

for measuring ... 228 
„ in Mammalia... ... 48 

,, in Anthropoids ... 50 

„ in Man at different 

ages 131 

J, in the Human Eaces 229 

„ of the orbits 222 

„ of the chest 403 

Carpus... ... ... ... 36 

Carthaginians ... ... 468 

-Caste 422 

Catarrhinians 23, 96 

Cebians 23, 46, 56, 64, 187, 525 

Celts 459 

Centenarians 147 

Cephalic index ... ... 236 

Cephalo-orbital index ... 231 

,, -spinal „ ... 251 

Cerebral functions ... 148, 406 

Cerebellum 102, 114 

Cerebro-spinal axis ... ... 101 



"Chanchas" 423 

Ghaouias ... ... ... 360 

Characters in general... 18, 446 
507, 629 
„ Anthropometrical ... 315 
„ Archaeological ... 433 

„ Craniometrical 40, 218 
„ Descriptive, 208-213, 297, 
314, 340 

„ Ethnic 417 

„ Historical ... ... 426 

„ Intellectual ... 148, 407 
„ Linguistic ... ... 423 

„ Osteometrical ... 301 

„ Pathological ... 158, 412 
„ Physical 30, 204, 314 

„ „ on the living 

subject ... ... 814 

„ Physiological 127, 363 

„ Eational and empirical 222 

„ Unimportant... 308, 530 

Characteristic, General, of 

Human Family ... ... 406 

** Charbon" in horned cattle. . . 159 
Charruas ... 321, 386, 481 

Chestnut hair 348 

Chiasma optic ... ... ... 102 

Chin, The 60, 360 

Chinese 230, 240, 249, 257, 286, 

321, 335, 361, 402, 472 

Chinoolcs ... ... ... 181 

Choanoid muscle ... ... 95 

Cicatrices in negroes . . . 413 

Cimhri ... ... ... ... 459 

Cimmerians ... ... 179, 459 

Cingalese ... ... ... 452 

Circumference of the skull ... 245 
,, ,, ,, in 

microcephales ... 165 

,, of the chest 403 

Classification of the Human 

Eaces 198, 443 
„ „ Mammalia... 22 

,, „ Primates ... 23 

„ „ Yertebrata 21 

,, „ Zoological... 18 

Clavicle 36, 303 

Clichy, Female skulls of ... 437 
Coccyx... ... ... 31, 66 

Colour of the eyes ... ... 346 

Colour of the hair 347 

„ skin 342 



INDEX. 



539 



PAGE 

Colour, Influence of climate on 387 
Column, Vertebral ... 31,63 

Conclusion with, regard to the 

Human Family ... 185 
,, Human Eaces ... 506 

„ Man 529 

Convolutions, Cerebral 104, 113 
„ Transition ... 102, 118 
, , Variations of, in Mam- 
malia ... ... 114 

Cord, Umbilical 101 

Corpora striata ... ... 102 

Corpus callosum ... 101, 112 
Corpuscles of Paccini ... 95 

Corsicans ... 230, 244, 281 
Cotyloid cavity ... 37, 67 

Coxal bone ... ... ... 36 

Coxo-femoral articulation 37, 72 

Cranial net of Welcker ... 295 

Craniograph of Broca . . . 271 

,, of Koperni9ki ... 296 

Craniology 206 

Craniometrical drawings ... 268 
,, measurements ... 232 

,, points ... ... 234 

Craniometry ... ... 81, 218 

Craniophore of Topinard ... 273 
Cranioscopy ... ... ... 206 

Cranium 31, 40, 165, 176, 206, 223 

Crees 323 

Crest, Temporal ... 33 57 

Cretinism ... ... ... 164 

Cribriform plate of ethmoid... 34 

Cricoid cartilage 98 

Croats 241, 259, 454 

Crochet, Occipital, of Broca 209 
Cro-Magnon, Race of .. . ... 438 

Cromlechs 420 

Crossing 367-377 

Cryptozygous zygomatic arch 

288, 489 
Cubic measurement of skull 227 
„ „ of orbits 232 

Cuneiform deformation of 

skull 182 

Curved lines of skull 210, 235, 246 
Curvatures of vertebral co- 
lumn 63 

Cylindrocephaly ... ... 177 

Cymbocephaly 177 



Dacryon 



35, 238 



Dahomey s 




PAGE 

... 487 


Dalmatians 




... 454 


Damaras 
Danakils 




... 490 

... 485 


Danes ... 


321, 


327, 348 



Dar-fur negroes 487 

Darwinism ... ... ... 521 

Deformations of skull, Artifi- 
cial 178, 421 

Deformities of skull, Patho- 
logical ... 176 
„ „ Posthumous 177 

„ „ rickety bones 167 

Denise, Prehistoric skulls of... 450 
Denmark Museum ... ... 444 

Dentition in the Anthropoid 

Apes 131 

,, in Man ... ... 136 

Determination of the age of a 

skull 136 

,, „ sex in the skeleton 143 

Development of the body . . . 128 

„ extremities ... ... 141 

„ skeleton 140 

Diagraph of Gavart ... ... 269 

Diameters ... ... ... 235 

,, Antero-posterior maxi- 

mum... ... ... 236 

„ Transverse maximum 240 

„ Frontal 249 

„ Maximum occipital .. . 250 

„ Vertical 243 

Diaphysis ... ... ... 36 

Diastema ... ... ... 58 

Digestion ... ... ... 405 

Diopter of Lucse ... ... 269 

162 

158, 413 

Distance from medius to pa- 
tella 334 

Divergence of vision... ... 57 

DolichocephaU 240 

Dolmens ... 299, 420, 433 

Domhers, or Dumhas ... 321, 323 

Dondos 161 

Dravidians ...321,327,456,506 
Duration of life ... ... 147 

Dutch ... 231, 240, 254, 393, 416 

Dwarfs 160 

D^/afes of Borneo ... ... 477 

Dynamometer, Regnier's ... 399 
'^ :enesis 369 



540 



INDEX. 



Ear, The 96 

Eguisheim, Prehistoric skulls 450 
Ugyptians ... .... 240, 485 

Elliptical alveolar arch ... 260 
Embryology ... ... ... 128 

Encephalon ... 102 

„ Weight of, in Mam- 

malia ... ... 122 

„ In Man ... 119, 310 

„ Proportions of diffe- 
rent parts of ... 123 

Endocrane 31, 294 

Endometry 295 

English 272, 311, 313, 320, 327, 
334, 349, 393, 398, 402 
" Ensellure," Lumbo-sacral, of 
Duchenne ... ... ... 342 

"Envergure, Grande" 84, 334 

Epactalbone ... 208 

Epigenesis 131, 162 

Epiglottis ... 98 

Epiphyses 36 

Ephippium ... ..= ... 34 

Epochs, Stone 433 

Equilibrium of head in verti- 
cal position 52, 62 

Esquimaux ...230> 240, 252, 313, 

396, 444, 473 

Esthonians ... ... 241, 465 

Ethmoid bone ... ... ... 34 

Ethnography ... ... 7, 419 

Ethnology 8, 410, 417 

Ethnic mutilations ... 418, 422 

Eugenesis 369 

Eurycephaly 176, 238 

Eurygnathous . . . ... ... 201 

Euskarian language ... ... 425 

Extinction of Eaces, Causes of 413 
Extremities, The ... 35, 71, 85 

Eyes, Colour of the 346 

„ Oblique direction of 

the 355 

Face 212, 235 

,, Bones of 35 

„ Measurements of ... 251 
Faculty of language ... ... 155 

Family relations 1 50 

Fans ... ... 488 

Fantis ... ... .... ... 487 

Fecundity 366 

Fellatahs 485 

487 



Femur ... 36 

,, Obliquity of 142 

,, "aColonne" ... 300, 391 
Fever, yellow, Immunity of 

blacks against ... ... 12 

Fibula ... 36 

,, channelled ... ... 300 

Finlanders ... ... ... 465- 

Fins 321,327, 465. 

Firlolgs 459' 

Fissures, Cerebral 102 

Fissure, Calloso-marginal ... 113 

,, Perpendicular ... 105 
.,, ofEolando 104 

„ of Sylvius 104 

Flint implements 420 

„ "St. Acheul" ... 435 

,, "DuMoustier" ... 435 
Folds, Cerebral 102: 

„ Curved 110 

,, Marginal, of Gratiolet 110 

,, Palmar ... ... 95 

Fontanelles ... ... ... 133 

Foot 36, 71, 89 

Foramen, Auricular ... ... 33 

Occipital ... 32, 51 

Foramina, Parietal 207 

Forearm 36, 75, 87 

,, Proportions of 86, 335 
Forehead ... 219, 275, 354 

Fossae, Iliac 67 

Foulahs 486 

Foullas 373, 486 

French 327, 349, 393, 398, 409, 454 
Frontal bone 34, 248 

„ lobe 108 

Functions, Cerebral 148 

Fungi 487 

Furfooz Eace 440 

Gaboon, Negroes of the . . . 445 

Gaels 45a 

Gallas 373, 458, 506 

Gallo.Bretons ... 249, 287, 459 

Gauging the skull 228 

Gauls 230, 240, 458 

Gavart's diagraph 269 

Genealogy of Man ... ... 532 

" Geni tubercles " ... ... 35' 

Georgians ... ... ••• 457 

Germans 252, 254, 293, 311, 393, 
, 412„ 443, 451» 454 



INDEX. 



541 



Germs, Pre-existence of ... 162 
Germinal vesicle ... ... 128 

Gestation ... 146 

Ghazneoides ... 269 

Giants 160 

Gipsies... ... ... ... 394 

Gitanos 456 

Glabella ... 33, 209, 238 

Glenoid cavity of scapula ... 36 

,, ,, of superior maxilla 58 

Glottis 98 

Goniometer, Facial, of Broca 330 

,, ,f oi. Jacquart 43 

, , Parietal, of De Quatre- 

fages 289 

Gonion... ... ... ... 235 

Ghounds 456, 504 

Gradation in the animal 

series 19, 525 

Griquas ... 375, 382, 492 

^Greeks 337 

Greenlanders ... 240, 245, 445 
Grottoes of La Marne . . . 442 
Growth of the body 128 

„ „ the brain 130 

Guomches 230, 240, 257, 282, 461 
Guaranis ... ... ... 182 

Guebres 358 

Gyrencephaly... ... ... 116 

Hair, Influence of milieux on 387 

Colour of 347 

,, Fair and dark ... 348 

, , Character of the . . . 351 

Hand, The 36, 74, 89 

Harmony of the cranium . . . 213 

„ of the face 354 

Howssa negroes ... ... 487 

Height of the face 253 

„ forehead ... 273, 275 

„ head 273 

Hemispheres, Cerebral ... 103 

Himyarites 203, 506 

Hindoos 398 

Hiung-Nu 467 

Hippocampus minor ... ... 102 

History, Relation of Anthro- 
pology with... ... 11, 427 

L'Homme-Mort, Cavern of ... 411 
Homogenesis ... ... 195, 369 

Horizontality of vision ... 55 

''Hottentot Venus" 301, 309, 493 



Hottentots 


PAGE 

490, 506 


Human type 


... 446 


Humerus ... 36, 


140, 298 


Humerus, Perforation of ole- 


cranon of ... 


... 298 


,, Torsion of ... 


74, 298 


Hungarians ... 254, 


425, 467 


Huns ... 


... 469 


Hybrids 


... 367 


Hydrocephalus 


... 170 


Hyperbolic alveolar arch 


59, 260 


Hyperborean Race ... 


... 200 


Hypertrophy of skull... ^ 


... 171 


Hypsocephaly 


... 176 


Ihos 


... 487 


Ichthyosis 


... 162 


Idiotcy 


... 163 


Iliac bones 


36, 37 


" Impar " lobule 


... 97 



Implements, Flint 420 

,, ,, "St. Acheul" 435 

„ "DuMoustier"435 

Incas 407 

Indices in general ... 220,236 
Index, Basilar ... 263, 270 

, , Cephalic, on the skeleton 236 
,, ,, on the living 

subject 240 

,, Cephalo-orbital ... 231 
5, ,, -spinal ... 251 

,, Cerebral 125 

,, Facial 252 

,, Frontal 250 

,, of the head 274 

,, Nasal, on the skeleton 257 
„ J, on the living 

subject 256, 357 
„ Orbital ... 257, 263 

„ Palatine ... 261, 263 

Stephanie 263 

,, Trans verso -vertical... 263 
,, Vertical (see Rela- 
tions) ... 242, 263 
Indo-European Race... ... 424 

Inferior maxilla. Measurement 

of 262 

*'Inion" ... 32, 208, 234 

Innuit ... ... ... ... 473 

Instructions, Anthropome- 

trical ... 333, 342 
„ craniological 262 



INDEX. 



Insula of Reil 


PAGE 

108 


Lapps 241, 245, 249, 321, 


395, 


PAGB 

470 


Intermaxillary bones 


39 


Laryngeal sacs 




99 


Intermedium 


78 


Larynx 




98 


Interparietal bones 


32 


Lee-Pangioes 




453 


Irish 231, 241 321, 334, 348, 


451 


LeiotricM 


201* 


351 


Iroquois Indians 320, 334, 


336 


"Lemurien" ... 




531 


398, 


&c. 


Lemurs ... 23, 46,77, 80 


189 


525 


Irulas 388, 


504 


Leporides 




198 


Ismaelites 


463 


LeptorrMnians 




257 


Italians... 232, 242, 251, 


454 


Life, Duration of 


147 


364 






Ligament, Posterior cervical 


52 


Jacquart's goniometer 


43 


Ligurians 


348, 


428 


Jahts ... 456, 


469 


Line Facial 




41 


Japanese ... 199, 203, 


445 


,, of Daubenton 




53 


Javanese 241, 250, 254, 257, 


259, 


,, Basio-alveolar 




253 


304, 338, 


477 


,, Minimum frontal 




248 


Jectanides 


463 


, , Naso -b asilar . . . 




254 


Jews ... 254,321,348,378, 


388, 


, , Primitive 




129 


394, 


463 


Linguistic characters 




423 


Jivaros Indians 


423 


Lippladins 




373 


Jugal bones 


34 


Lissencepbales 




115 


Jugal point 


235 


Liver ... 

Livonians 




96 
465 


Kalyls 418, 420, 


461 


Lobes, Cerebral 


102^ 


110 


Kaffirs... 240, 254, 274, 


320 


„ Optic 




114 


345, 


351 


„ Frontal 




108 


KalmucTcs ... 254, 432, 


473 


„ Occipital 


110, 


118 


Kamtchadales 


476 


„ Parietal 




110 


Kanakas ...231,241,272, 


478 


Lobule, Central 




108 


Kattees 


452 


„ Impar 




97 


Keel-shaped skulls 


211 


„ Oval 




112 


Kephalon 


176 


„ Quadrangular 




112 


Khasovo 


475 


„ Triangular ... 




111 


Khazars 


467 


Locomotion, Function of 




72 


Khounds 456, 


504 


Lolos 




476 


Kiang-Kuan 


468 


Long-barrows 




441 


Kirghis ...321, 330, 452, 


468 


Lozere, Dolmens of La 


298,* 


459 


Kj okken-moddings 


433 


Luc83's diopter 




269 


Klinocepbaly 


177 


Lumbo-sacral articulation ... 


342 


Koi-Koin, or Hottentots 490, 


492 


Lyencepbales... 




115 


Koluches 453, 


473 








Kopemigki, Craniograpli of... 


296 


Macassars 




477 


Korannas 490, 


492 


Macrocephaly ... 




176 


Krouman 


487 


Macuas 




490 


Kumbecephaly 


177 


Magyars... 242, 321, 398, 


465, 


467 


Kurds 


457 


Mahairs 


487, 


504 


Kurumlas ... 321, 456, 


504 


Malcalolos ... 345 


, 426 


491 


Kyrmis 259, 


459 


Malcos 

Malar bones 




487 
34 


Laechs 


454 


„ point 




235 


"Lambda" 


238 


Malays 274, 281, 429, 


445,* 


472, 


Language, Faculty of 109, 155, 


424 




476, 


506 



INDEX. 



543 



Malayo-Papuans 


PAGE 

375 


PAGB 

Method of averages and in- 


Malay O.Polynesians 


... 203, 478 


dices 230 


Malleolus 


36, 302 


„ Craniometrical, ofthe 


Maltese 


... 348, 394 


Germans 228, 244, 248,. 


Mamelukes 


... 372, 395 


252, 293, 294, 295 


Mamillary tubercles 


115 


„ of Mantegazza 232, 251 


Mammalia, Convolutions of 


Method of projections ...263 


brain in ... 


114 


Method by the double square 273 


Mammoth Age 


435 


„ of seriation 325 


Man, Origin of 


515 


„ of classification of Races 


Mandans 


458 


by their language . . . 424 


Mandingoes 


487 


Metopic point 234 


Mantchiis 


199, 451, 475 


„ suture 132 


Maoris 


... 231, 241 


Mexicans ... 231, 402, 480 


Maravers 


... 456, 504 


Miaotse, or Miaou-tse ... 448 


Maxillary bones 


35, 58, 260 


Microcephaly 165 


Measurements of the 


cranium 40, 


"Microseme" 258 


222, 


233, 235, &c. 


Migrations ... ... ... 431 


„ face ...251, 


326, 330, &c. 


" Milieux," Influence of ...385 


„ body ... 


331 


Mincopies 498 


,, brain ... 


125 


Minuongs 371 


„ femur 


142 


Miocene strata 436 


,, head ... 


328 


Monlouttons 419, 453 


„ nose ... 


357 


Mongoloid group 201, 216, 471 


„ pelvis... 


68, 305 


Mongol-Kalkas 471 


„ skeleton 


81, 303 


Monogenism 202, 517 


Mecistocephales 


238 


Monosyllabic languages ... 423 


Medicine, Eelation of 


Anthro- 


Monstrosities 162 


pology to 


6 


Monuments, Megalithic 420, 433 


Medulla oblongata 


101 


Moors 371, 462 


Megalocephaly 


176 


Mop-heads 351 


"Megaseme" ... 


258 


Morality 153, 411 


Melanesians 


358, 376, 496 


Morduins 465 


Melanochroid group 


202 


Moundas ... ... ... 504 


Menstruation ... 


... 146, 365 


Moxos 391 


Mental point . . . 


238 


M'Pong.wes 426, 487 


Merovingians ... 230, 240, 281, 


Mulattoes ...312, 334, 336, 398, 




298 


400-4.06 


Mesaticephaly... 


238 


Mundas , 327 


Mesorrhinians... 


257 


Muscles 63, 91, 307 


"Mesoseme" ... 


258 


Muscular strength 399 


Metacarpus 


36 


Mutilations, Ethnic ... 418, 422 


Metatarsus 


36 


Mythologies 411 


Method of zoological 


classifi- 


M'Zahites 461 


cation 


18 




„ comparison 


Df skulls. 


Nahuas 181, 185, 429, 481 


&c., Blumenbach's 214 


Namaquas 281, 492 


„ Camper's 


42 


Nares, The 358, 359 


„ Cuvier's 


46 


Nasal point 238 


„ Daubenton's 


56 


„ spine 35 


,, Owen's 


215 


Nashu 428 


„ Prichard's 


216 


Natchez 181, 185 



544 



PAGE 

Nationality 9 

Naulette, La, Jaw of . . . 60, 437 

Neanderthal, Cranium of ... 437 

Negroes ...230,240,244,249, 

250-255, 267-276, 280-293, 

311-313, 334-338, 366, 

398-406, 413, 428, 445 

Negritos ...321, 327, 487, 498 

Neolithic Epoch 434 

Neptunian Eace ... ... 200 

Neiv CaVedonians . . . 230, 247, 
257, 495 
231, 398, 404 



New Zealanders 
Nose, The 
Nicoharians 
Nog ays . 



95, 256, 358 
... 321, 336 
469 



' Norma Yerticalis " 214, 264, 288 



Normans 
Norwegians 
Nouairs 
Noubas ... 
Nubians 
Nya/m-Nyams , 



348, 425, 443 

323 

487 

374 

..230, 240, 249, 487 
485 



"Obelion" 133, 234 

Obesity 160 

Obliquity of the femur . . . 142 

Ohongos ...322, 345, 413, 494 

Occipital bone... ... ... 31 

„ lobe 110 

„ maximum point . . . 238 
„ Third condyle of ... 33 

crochet 209 

Odour of the skin ... ... 361 

" Ogive," Configuration of the 

skull, "en" 211 

Olfactory bulb 102 

Olmo, Female skulls of ... 437 

"Ophryon" ... 33 

^'Opisthion" 32, 238 

Opisthognathous 278 

Optic chiasma... ... ... 102 

„ lobes 114 

„ thalami... - 102 

Ora/ngs-lautts ... ... ... 388 

Orbits, The ... 232, 259, 355 

Organs of reproduction . . . 100 

„ Rudimentary... ... 125 

Origin of Man... ... • ... 515 

Orotchys 322 

Orrouy, Prehistoric skulls of 212 
Orthocephaly ... 238 



Orthognathous 



PAGE 

201, 278 

... 372 

... 469 

452, 457 



Osmanlis 

Ossetians 

Ossification of the sutures . . . 131 

„ long bones ... ... 140 

Osteological considerations ... 29 

Osteometrical characters ... 301 

Osteometry ... ... ... 81 

Ostiahs... ... ... ... 465 

Ouigours, or Ugrians... ... 467 

Ou-Sioun 468 

Ova-heveros ... ... ... 490 

Oxycephaly 176 

Pachycephaly 177 

Pahuins ... ... ... 486 

Palate bones ... ... ... 34 

Paleolithic Epoch ' 434 

Palmar folds ... 95 

Papuans ... 321,351,495 

Parabolic alveolar arch . . . 260 
" Paraderos," Prehistoric 445, 482 
Paragenesis ... ... ... 369 

Parietal bones... ... ... 33 

„ lobe ... 109 

Parisians 240, 244-250, 291,' 298 

Par sees 423,429, 457 

Patagonians ... ... ... 482 

Patans ... ... ... ... 452 

Patella 31 

Pathological characters 158, 412 

Paws 181 

Peduncles, Cerebral ... ... 101 

Pehuelhas ... ... ... 368 

Pelvis 35, 68, 305 

Peoples 9, 11, 419, 427, 443, 455 
Peppercorn tufts of hair ... 351 
Perforation of humerus ... 298 
Pericardium ... ... ... 97 

Peritoneum ... ... ... 97 

Permanence of types . . . 378 

Permians ... ... ... 465 

Peruvians 183, 231, 257, 321, 

345, 480 

Peschernis ... ... ... 321 

Peuls ... 486 

Phcenicians ... ... ... 463 

Phenozygous zygomatic arch 

288, 489 

Philology 423 

Physiognomy ... ... ... 353 



INDEX. 



545 



Piebald negro 


162, 


PAGE 

381 


Pigment 




343 


Pile villages of Switzerland 


433 


Pine Islanders 


496, 


498 


Pithecians 23, 55, 62, 96, 187, 


525 


Placenta 




100 


Plagiocepiialy 




177 


Planes, Horizontal, in general 


265 


„ Alveolo-condylean 55 


267 


Platybasic deformity of the 




skull 




177 


Platycephaly ... 




176 


Platycnemia 


299, 


391 


Platyrrhinian 




257 


Pliocene of St. Prest... 




436 


" Plis-de-passage " ... 


102, 


118 


Points, Craniometrical 


32,34 


,51, 




54, 


234 


Point, Jugal ... 




238 


„ Sub-nasal 




238 


Foles 


242, 


454 


Polydactylia 


162, 


379 


Polygenism ... 202,424,516 


Polynesians 




500 


Polysarcia 






160 


Polysyllabic languages 






423 


Pons Varolii 






101 


Preadamites 






517 


Precursor of Man, The 






530 


Prehension, Function of 






72 


Prehistoric Races 






437 



Primates ... 23, 97, 189, 525 

"Probola" 211 

Process with the double square 

272, 328 

Processes, External orbital 33 

„ Mastoid ... 33, 60 

„ Pterygoid ... 33, 291 

„ Styloid of radius ... 36 

„ of vertebrae ... 31, 65 

Prognathism ... 201, 217, 277 

Projections in general ... 263 

„ of the body 333 

„ of the cranium ... 269 

„ of the forehead ... 275 

„ of the head ... 274, 329 

Pronation, The forearm in . . . 75 

Proportion of the cranium and 

face 46 

„ of the brain 123 

„ of the body 315 

„ of the face 317 



PAGE 

Proportion of the pelvis . . . 305 

„ of the skeleton ... 81 

„ in the arts ... 316 

Protuberantia annularis ... 102 

Prussians ... ... ... 241 

"Pterion" ... 60, 208, 238 

Puelches 181 

Pulse, The, in Mammalia ... 146 
, , The, in the Human Races 401 

Pyramidal skull 216 

Pyrgocephaly ... ... 176 

Quadrigemina tubercula ... 102 



9, 198, 443, 511 

,, Prehistoric 437 

Radius 36,86, 302 

Rajpoots 446 

Relations in general ... 220, 263 
,, of the trunk to the 

stature ... ... 83 

„ of the grande envergure 

to the stature ... 84 

„ of the clavicle to the 

humerus 303 

,, of the radius to the 

humerus ... 87, 303 
„ of the tibia to the 

femur ... 88, 303 

5, of the foot and hand 

89, 335 
Relation of the humerus to the 

femur ... ... 89 

„ of the superior to the 

inferior extremities 85, 303 

(see Indices) 

Radii, Auricular, of Broca ... 270 

„ of Davis and Busk ... 271 

Red hair ... 349,450, 480 

Red Races 345 

Reil, Insula of 107 

Reindeer Age, The 435 

Religiousness 152, 409 

Reproduction, Organs of 100, 362 
Respiration, Rhythm of the... 402 
Rete mucosum of Malpighi . . . 343 
Retroversion of the vertebral 

64 
126, 526 



Reversions 

Ribs 

Rickets 

Rolando, Fissure of 



2 N 



35 
167 
107 



546 



PAGE 

Eoof -shaped skulls 211 

Bot 428 

Eoumaniams 242, 288, 321, 398, 

467 

Eound-barrows ... ... 441 

,, Royaumes" of Agassiz ... 518 
Eudimentary organs ... ... 125 

BMSsians ...321,382,430,466 

Bussniaks, or Buthenians 327, 454 

SaabEace 202 

Sacrum ... ... 30, 66 

Sacs, Laryngeal 99 

Samoans ... ... ... 373 

Samoyedes 395, 475 

Sand, Cubic measurement by 

227, 231 
Saracens ... ... 429, 464 

Savoyards ... ... ... 241 

Scalping, Custom of 422 

Scandinavians... ... 320, 386 

Scapbocepbaly ... ... 177 

Scapula ... ... ... 36 

Scapulo-humeral articulation 36 
Sclavens ... ... ... 454 

Scotch ... 254,311,320,334, 

348, 366, 404 
Saghodians ... ... ... 321 

Schangallahs ... ... ... 487 

Selection ... 523 

Sella Turcica 34 

498 

202, 448, 462 

Sense, Organs of 94 

Septocephaly 176 

Serbs 454 

Sereres ... ... ... ... 487 

Sexual differences in the 

cranium ... ... 145 

„ skeleton 143 

SUllucls ... 487 

Shot, Cubic measurement with. 227 

Shuluhs 461 

Siah-posh ... ... ... 452 

Sicilians ... ... ... 321 

Simian variations in cerebral 
convolutions ... ... 117 

Sinican Eace 202 

Skeleton, The 30, 37 

Slavs 202, 242 

SlovaTcs ... 242, 454 

Slovenians ... ... 242, 454 



PAGE 

Sociability ... ... ... 151 

Societies, Anthropological, 
Foundation of ... ... 17 

Soiony ... ... ... ... 475 

Somalis ... 362,373,506 

Spanish ... 349, 394, 409 

Sphenoid bone 33 

Stature in Anthropoids ... 80 
„ in the Human Eaces 320 
„ Influence of external 

conditions on 388, 390 

Steatopyga 362, 492 

Stenocephaly ... ... ... 176 

"Stephanion" 238 

Stereograph of Broca . . . 268 

Sternum 35, 70 

Stomach, The 96 

Stone Epochs 433 

Stone implements, "St.Acheul" 435 

„ "DuMoustier" ... 435 

Straengenoes female skulls . . . 437 

Strength, Muscular 399 

Struggle for existence . . . 521 

Suahilis ... ... ... 490 

Sugar-loaf skulls 211 

Sulci 102 

Sulcus, Interparietal... ... 110 

,, Parallel 108 

Supination, The forearm in . . . 76 
Susus... ... ... ... 486 

Sutures, Cranial 132, 172, 208. 
Swam^ethians ... ... ... 452, 

Swedes 231, 241 

Sylvius, Fissure of 104 

Synostosis 133, 172 

Syphilis in apes 159 

Syrians 241, 462 

System of Antelme 296 

„ Ihering 295 

„ Koperni9ki ... ... 296 

„ Nervous 101 

" TabHer" of Hottentots 362, 493 

Taboo 422 

Tadjichs, ov TadzMTcs ... 452,457 

Tail, The 67 

Tamahou 428, 452 

Tapinocephaly ... ... 176 

Tarsus ... ... 36 

Tasmanians ...249, 274, 443, 500 

Tatars 470- 

Tatooiug 422 



INDEX. 



547 



PAGB 




PAGE 


Taivdrehs ...386, 446, 461, 485 


Twin births 


... 360 


Tehees 242 


Types in general 


... 39 


Tcheremisses 465 


„ American 


... 479 


TcJiuvatches 465 


„ Anthropological 


... 442 


Teetli in Anthropoids 58 


„ Arabian 


... 463 


„ Man 58 


„ Australian ... 


... 501 


„ Distinctive characters 


„ Berber 


... 461 


of the 137 


„ Blonde 


... 449 


Tehuelches ... 242, 320, 431, 482 


„ Celtic 


... 458 


Temperature of the body ... 146 


„ Esquimau 


... 473 


Temporal bone 33 


Type, European 


... 447 


„ fossae 57 


„ „ brown 


... 453 


Teratology 160 


„ Finnish 


... 465 


' ' Thenar Eminence " 95 


„ Hindoo 


... 456 


Thibetans 472, 475 


„ Hottentot 


... 491 


Thigh, Proportions of ...331 


„ Iranian 


... 457 


Thorax... ... ... 35, 69 


„ KaflSr 


... 490 


Thu-Kin 469 


„ I^app 


... 470 


Thymus gland 129 


„ Malay 


... 476 


Thyroid cartilage 98 


,, Mongolian 


... 471 


Tihhoos 487 


„ Negro 


... 487 


Tibia 36, 88, 168, 303 


„ Negrito 


... 498 


Timorians 400 


„ New Caledonian 


... 495 


Ting-Ling 468 


„ Papuan 


... 495 


Todas 336, 384, 404, 418, 421, 504 


„ Patagonian 


... 482 


Toltecs 185 


„ Polynesian 


... 478 


Tongas 373 


„ Eed African ... 


... 484 


Topinard's craniophore ... 273 


„ Samoyed 


... 475 


"Tornas Atras" 372 


„ Semitic 


... 462 


Torodes 486 


„ Tasmanian 


... 500 


Torsion of the humerus ... 75 


„ Tschinganian ... 


... 456 


TotonacTcs 185 






Toitcolors 373, 486 


JJgrians, or Ouigours... 


... 467 


Toulousian skull. Deformation 


Ulna 


36, 301 


of 182 


Ulotrichi 


201, 351 


Tradition 431 


Umbilical cord 


... 101 


Transf ormism . . . ... ... 519 


Unions, Consanguineous 


... 383 


Triangle, Facial, of the Germans 


Upsilon, Alveolar arch, Hke the 


253 


letter 


... 260 


„ of Assezat ... 282 


Uralo-Altaic family ... 


... 423 


Trigonocephaly ... ... 176 


Uterus 


... 100 


Trochanter 36 


TJzheTcs, or TJzhecTcs 


288, 469 


Trochocephaly 176 






TschinqhoMians ... 242, 254, 394, 


" Vadrouille," Hair of 


head. 


409, 456 


"en" 


... 351 


Tube, Digestive 96 


Varalis... 


... 504 


Tubercles " geni " ... 35,437 


Yariability of type . . . 


385, 522 


„ Mamillary ... ... 115 


Variety 


196, 509 


„ Quadrigemina ... 102 


Vault of cranium 


... 211 


Tumuli 422, 433 


Veddahs ... 242 


, 321, 505 


Turanians 469 


Ventricles of brain ... 


... 102 


Turks- ..... ...» 241, 255, 469 


„ of larynx 


... 98 



548 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

" Venus Hottentot," The ... 301, 


Wendes 




PA.GE 

454 


309, 493 


Wormiana ossa 


in', 


207 


Venus deMilo 358 


Wrinkles, Palmar ... 




95 


Vertebrse 31 








Vertex 242 

Viscera 96 


Xanthocroid group . . . 




202 


Vision, Divergence of ... 57 








„ Horizontality of ... 55 


Yakuts 


425, 


468 


Vital competition 522 


Yellow fever, Exemption of 




Voguls 425 


negroes from 


397, 


412 


VolsTces-Tectosages 179, 324, 444 


Yenadis 


456, 


504 


Voice, Organ of 98 


Yoloffs 


386, 


487 


otiaks 465 








" Voussures de compensation " 174 


Z(m%hos 




382 




"Zend-Avesta" 




469 


Walloons 443, 461 


Zealanders, New 251 


398, 


404 


Weight of tlie body ... 129, 398 


Zingaris 




456 


„ brain ... 120, 309 


Zoological anthropology 




25 


Welcker's cranial net ...295 


Zoometry 




81 


„ naso-basal angle ... 255 


Zygomatic arch 




35 



CHABLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS. 



EEEATA. 

Introduction, page 6, last line, for " himself " read *' itself." 
Page 25, note, for " Medicale " read " Medicales." 
Page 41, Fig. 4, insert " Its vertex at" after " Angle of Jacquart." 
Page 152, note, last line but one, read " induces them little to 

conceive," &c. 

Page 173, line 24, for " at " read "of." 

Page 179, line 14, for "one of their tribes having this custom 

have passed over the Volskes-Tectosages of the Caucasus," read 

" one of their tribes, the Volskes-Tectosages, have passed over the 

Caucasus." 

Page 363, for " Physical " read " Physiological." 
Page 392, 3 lines fi'om bottom, omit " climate and." 



